My Role
UI Design, Game Design, UI Development
Type
Personal Project
Team
Dheeraj James
Timeline
Jan 2019 - April 2019
Backstory
"Stack It" is a mobile video game that I co-developed as an entry for Teknack 2019, a game development competition organized by the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) student chapter of DBIT.
It is an attempt at taking the beloved childhood game of Tic-Tac-Toe to the next level. The game was developed using the Unity Game engine and released on the Google Play Store.
Problem
Considering the nature of Tic-Tac-Toe, the outcomes that can arise are limited since the game has a limited number of strategies to employ. To make the game more challenging, it should be designed to have less predictable outcomes.
Solution
Increasing the stakes by creating a point-based system, which encourages players to create their own strategies.
Introducing a 5x5 and 7x7 grid which allows players to create longer combinations of X's and O's which makes the game interesting and non-linear.
Research
Studied similar mobile games, such as Candy Crush on the Play Store to analyze their features.
Ideated algorithms to implement for the point system and the computer.
Tested the game in a physical format (paper version) to gauge the intuitiveness and usability of the game.
Algorithm
We introduced a point system to decide the final score and the winner of the game. For this, a matrix was used to calculate the score on the basis of the number of X’s or O's in the combination. The rules for scoring points are as follows:
For either X's or O's; combination of 3 (1 point), combination of 4 (3 point), combination of 5 (6 points), combination of 6 (10 points), combination of 7 (15 points).
Checking the rows, columns and diagonals for combinations using a matrix.
Wireframes
User Testing
In order to test if the logic that we devised was robust, we conducted a demonstration of a physical version of the game.
The results of the user tests showed that having a 3-player mode in addition to the 2-player mode would increase user engagement. We observed in many cases when two users were playing with each other, a third person wanted to join in the game.
This led us to include a 3-player mode after testing its feasibility with the algorithm.
A physical format of the game being tested in the college cafeteria.
User testing with students.
User Flow
Final Designs
The game starts with a blank grid that features white tiles. In the 2-Player mode, each player takes alternate turns in tapping on a white tile in order to make a combination with either X's or O's based on what is assigned to them.
When all the tiles in the grid are filled, the game is completed and the player with the highest number of points wins.
Outcomes
We secured the “2nd Best Developed Game” award at Teknack 2019, organized by the ACM student chapter of DBIT, Mumbai.
The game has over 500+ downloads on the Google Play Store.