Tic Tactician!

A new and improved version of the classic game of Tic Tac Toe! The game revolves around the core idea of Tic Tac Toe where there are two sets of markers representing the two players in the game. The players then proceed to take turns placing their markers onto a 3x3 space board trying to create a row of 3 before their opponent. In Tic Tactician, some mechanics were added with the intent of creating a new challenging experience for the players. These mechanics include:

• Power of The Dice - A D6 is introduced into the game, where 3 of the 6 sides dictate what you do during your turn either it be placing 2 markers instead of one, or removing one of your opponent's markers, or removing one of your own markers. The other 3 sides allow you to place markers as usual. This not only adds luck to the game but also adds to the strategic characteristics of the game as players must now decide which markers to remove or where to place their markers. 
• Bigger Board - The original board of Tic Tac Toe is a 3x3 space board. This is somewhat unfair as the center space provides the most combinations for creating a row of markers and therefore the most valuable. Now, this wouldn't be a problem if both players had a chance at the center space but since the game is turn based, it is always the first player who takes the space. Even if the space is not a part of their strategy, they will take it just to deny the other player of having it. So, to deal with this problem the board has been increased in size to 4x4 space board so that there no longer exists a center space and there is no single space that provides a significant advantage over one's opponent. Of course, with a board this size the players must now create a row of 4 markers as oppose to a row of 3. This not only levels the playing field to allow for more balanced play between players but it also also provides more places to create rows adding to the strategic elements withing the game.

Pieces

• X pieces x16
• O pieces x16
• 4x4 space board  x1
• D6 x1

Number of Players: 2 

Setup

1. The board and the dice are placed in front of both players, where they are easily accessible to both players. 
2. Players choose which set of pieces they want. One player being the X and one being the O. 

The Rules

1. Players decide who goes first. 
2. The player taking their turn rolls the D6 and must follow what the outcome of the dice dictates. See Dice
3. After the player has finished it is now the other player's turn. Repeat from step 2. 
4. The game continues until either a player has created a row of 4 of their respective marker, in which case that player wins, or all the spaced on the board have been filled (cat's game).

Dice

The outcome of the dice determines what a player does during their turn. 

Outcomes:

• 2 - player removes 1 of their own markers from the board. If there no markers for the player to remove, that player does nothing for their turn. 
• 4 - player places 2 markers as oppose to just 1 for their turn. Player MUST place 2. 
• 6 - player removes 1 of their opponent's markers from the board. If there are no markers for the player to remove then that player does nothing for their turn.
• 1,3,5 - player places 1 marker onto the board. 

Additional Rules

• Players can only place markers on spaces where there is no marker currently places there. The space must be empty.

Play Test 

During play testing i found that the play time for the game was greatly extended as markers were constantly being removed from the board, sometimes almost completely clearing it. This allowed for players to replace their markers in different ways trying to achieve victory. The "place 2 marker" mechanic definitely gives the players an advantage but not so much so that it breaks the game as this mechanic is evened out by the fact that the other player can achieve this too as well as remove their markers from the board. Originally the game was played on the original 3x3 board and although it still had the prolonged game play, the "place 2 markers" mechanic was too powerful and the players became focused on obtaining the center space. So increasing the board size to the 4x4 board was definitely the way to go as it provided many more ways to achieve victory and no one space was more power than the others.