Academy: Tic-Tac-Toe

Genre: Board Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Alternating)

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Review:

Academy: Tic-Tac-Toe is a take on the classic Board Game (Pen and Paper Game?) Tic-Tac-Toe, released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2010 and then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released.

Now, you might be thinking that there is no good reason for anyone to buy a Tic-Tac-Toe videogame. Not only is it a terrible game, but it’s a game that anyone can easily play with only a pencil and paper. It’s one of the first games any child learns how to play, and then quickly learns that it’s a poorly-made game and not worth playing. So… what gives, here?

Well, I’ll start by saying that Academy: Tic-Tac-Toe is not just Tic-Tac-Toe. Yes, you can play the classic original version against another player or an AI opponent (an AI opponent who even at the highest difficulty lost their first game against me, in a game that you literally cannot lose if you have any idea what you’re doing). However, this game also includes a Speed variant, a Nine Board variant, and a Speed Nine Board variant. But curiously no tutorial or anything to teach you strategy, despite the word “Academy” in the title.

The Nine Board variant is interesting, and actually adds some much-needed depth to this classic game. Players are presented with nine Tic-Tac-Toe boards that they play on simultaneously arranged into a 3×3 grid, and every time you claim a space by drawing an X or O in that space (with pretty good character recognition determining what you wrote), the next play must be on the board that corresponds to that space. This adds a refreshing new element to this game.

As for the Speed variants, this limits you to 10 seconds per turn. This isn’t likely to trip you up during the normal Tic-Tac-Toe game, but during the Nine Board variant it can add pressure.

The presentation here is decent but unspectacular, with the place players are drawing their X and O marks on designed to look like a chalkboard, with light “funky” music playing in the background. It’s nothing special, but it works.

Look, obviously, no Tic-Tac-Toe game is going to set the world on fire, and even with its good qualities, Academy: Tic-Tac-Toe drops the ball when it comes to its AI. However, the nine board mode offers players a fun and strategic way to play the game. Is that worth $2 to buy this game when you can just do the same on a sheet of paper with a pen? I leave it to you to decide that.

tl;dr – Academy: Tic-Tac-Toe is a version of… well, Tic-Tac-Toe. As dreary as it may be to picture a videogame version of Tic-Tac-Toe, this version actually offers something interesting in the form of its alternate nine board mode, making for a deeper strategic game. Unfortunately, the AI in this game is pretty terrible, so this is mainly a game to get if you have a friend to play with.

Grade: C+

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