I had a random thought: What if tic-tac-toe was a roguelike? 

My mind immediately flooded with ideas for mechanics, narratives, and enemies. I imagined it with a protagonist, in an RPG-style roguelike experience. Losing a match would be too easy, so I created a health system around the tic-tac-toe board. There should be some kind of progressive system, where you're collecting loot. Well, that's a natural fit for a deckbuilder, right?

About two months ago, these ideas snowballed into Tic Tactic, a deckbuilding roguelike where you play as a duck who seeks vengeance against an army of chickens by playing tic-tac-toe. Why chickens, you ask? Well, the protagonist is a duck, so naturally, he has to fight against chickens... Maybe it's best you don't ask.

The current state of the game is entirely focused on the combat system. Each turn, you add one tile to the board. If you complete a three-in-a-row, the enemy takes damage depending on the tiles used in the trio.

Different tiles have different gameplay effects that can change the course of a match, like exploding when damaged, falling and crushing tiles below them, or even spawning additional tiles to the board. You'll face a variety of grunts, elites, or bosses, with their own decks and playstyles.

As you defeat enemies, you will get the opportunity to add new tiles to your deck. In this weekend's update, you'll even be able to buy tiles from a merchant.

At the end of every run, you'll be scored based on the number of enemies defeated, the number of turns used, and the amount of health lost. The game isn't never-ending, so a perfect pull can improve your score towards a theoretical hyper-optimized calculation. Once the game is done, I'll actually calculate the perfect score; for now, it changes with every update.

I'm still early into development, so updates can add huge features or significant mechanical changes. I think it's part of the fun, and, in this developer's humble opinion, the game has gotten more interesting and more replayable the longer I've worked on it. I have a definite roadmap, so the project will not last forever, but for now, I'll do what I can and have a good time working on it.

Also, if you like reading about development progress, you'll love me. I'm a certified yapper, and discuss progress in Tic Tactic's dev logs, on Discord, and on Twitter. I prefer Discord, since I can respond to you, but I'll serve you news in whatever form you prefer. I'll even send you personal emails if you ask me nicely enough.

https://unbreaded.itch.io/tictactic
Here's a link to the game. Sorry to make you wait for it.

Another week, another update.

Since the first launch, Tic Tactic has been playable from start to finish. The start and finish have changed, but the game was always a linear roguelike experience, with some randomized encounters in between.

While the "what" has not changed, the "how" has changed many times. Each update has introduced new steps for the player to experience, from actively choosing loot to collecting gold to making deals with slimy-looking traders.

In the newest update, I added some changes to existing elements of the game, including new quality of life features, graphical updates, and new sound effects. I also introduced some new things, like a map to show you what your path will look like, and a trader that will take some of your tiles off your hands. If you're interested in a more detailed (and frankly, more engaging) breakdown of the changes, feel free to check out the dev log! 

I've also started ironing out the roadmap for the game. As the main Itch page loudly proclaims, I'm still considering this a pre-alpha. I hope to enter Alpha towards the end of October. Planned changes include:

• Alternate bosses for both areas
• New enemies and elites in the pond environment
• Another AI adjustment to make it a little more predictable at earlier stages
• An inventory system for items
• The ability to view acquired tiles as well as the tiles sitting in your draw pile
• Act three, where you will finally enter the fowl home of the chickens.

If you give the update a try, let me know what you think! I included a Discord link and a feedback form in the game, and you can always use the comments on the Itch page. Thanks for reading, and until next time!
- unbreaded

It's been a while since I last updated this forum, though I've been posting dev logs on the page for Tic Tactic. I wanted to swoop by and give a quick update of things that I've added, or that I'm working on!

First of all, the game has grown in size considerably: the previous update I mentioned "both" areas, but in the new version, you can now travel to the chicken's capital of Cluckhaven and battle with their forces there! You'll find some additional dialogue, too, that sheds some light on why you're on this journey in the first place; not much, mind you, since the journey is still far from its end.

There are a huge variety of other changes to accompany it, from potion slots to chaining combos to new tiles -- we're at over 20 unique tiles with a wide variety of effects and abilities!

Thanks again for reading! Feel free to check the Dev Logs on the main game for more details and longer write-ups. I'm pretty good about mentioning all the changes I make :)