Tic Tac Top
Tic Tac Top Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 7 Erasable Notepads (each with a Leader Board and a Player Grid)
- 1 Scoring Track
- 120 Double-sided Theme Cards (French/English)
- 7 Erasable Markers
- 7 Double-sided Player Tokens
Game Overview
Each turn one player, called the Leader, reveals a Theme card and the list of 12 words related to the theme. The Leader secretly selects 7 words from the list and ranks them from the most to the least relevant to the round's theme.
At the same time, each of the other Players chooses 9 words from the same list and places them in their Tic Tac Toe grid. Their goal is to form the most 3 in a row words in common with those of the Leader.
Can you align your choices with those of the Leader?
Setup
Shuffle the Theme Cards and place them in the middle of the table. Place the Scoring Track next to the Theme Cards and the Player Tokens near space 1. Each player takes an Erasable Marker and selects a Notepad. Choose the first player to be the Leader for the first turn of the game, while the others will be the Players.
Gameplay
1. Discover the theme and its 12 associated words
The Leader draws 2 Theme Cards, chooses 1 (puts the other card back in the box) and reads the 12 words aloud so everyone can hear them. Then they place the Theme Card in the middle of the table so all players can see it.
2. Choose and RANK some words of the list
The Leader and the Players choose some of the words from the list and write them secretly on their Notepad.
- The Leader chooses 7 words, from the 12 on the Theme Card, and writes them on their board, ranking them from top to bottom, from the most to the least relevant to the theme.
- The Players choose 9 words, from the 12 on the Theme Card, and write them on their grid with one word per square.
As soon as the Leader finishes writing their 7 words, they count down slowly from 5. When they reach 0, all Players must stop writing. For a more competitive game, you can use a 1 minute 30 second timer, starting after the 12 words from the Theme Card have been read.
Attention: Players must check that they haven't written the same word multiple times. If duplicates exist, Players must erase one of the duplicates (of their choice). They cannot write another word in its place.
As the Leader, your goal is to help Players create as many 3 in a row as possible. To achieve this, it is important to consider a GENERAL perspective rather than a personal one.
As a Player, to maximize the 3 in a row in your grid, you can strategically place the words that seem most relevant in key positions, such as the center square of the grid... For a given theme, with the 7 words chosen by the Leader, you can achieve a maximum of 5 3 in a row in your grid.
The points earned by the Leader depend on both the total number of 3 in a row of the Player who made the most, but also the timing for the first 3 in a row.
3. Compare your choices
The Leader then begins to read, one by one and from top to bottom, the 7 words they have chosen.
When a word announced by the Leader is present on a Player's Grid, the Player must circle it. As soon as a Player aligns 3 circled words in a column, row, or diagonal, like in Tic Tac Toe, they achieve a 3 in a row (draw a line) and announce it out loud.
The first Player to achieve a 3 in a row circles the 2-point bonus on their Grid, which also allows the Leader to circle their corresponding bonus.
Example: when the Leader announces their third word "Pizza", the Player forms the first 3 in a row. The Player circles the bonus 2 at the top of their Grid. The Leader circles the +3 bonus on their Board.
4. Score... and debate each other's choices
For the Leader, there are 2 ways (A and B) to score points; for the Players, there are 2 ways (C and D) to score points.
Phase 1: while the Leader announces their 7 words
- A. As soon as a Player announces the first 3 in a row of the turn, the Leader circles the bonus linked to the last word announced: third word = +3, fourth word = +2, fifth word = +1. If it's thanks to their third word, they circle the +3 bonus.
- C. The first Player(s) to form a 3 in a row (with the same word) circle the 2-point bonus on their Grid. Players who subsequently form their first 3 in a row will no longer be able to earn this bonus during this turn.
Phase 2: when the Leader has announced all 7 words
- B. The Leader earns points based on the highest number of 3 in a row achieved by the Player who has the most 3 in a row: 3 in a row = 2 points, 4 in a row = 3 points, 5 in a row = 4 points.
- D. Each Player earns 1 point for each 3 in a row formed in their Grid (maximum 5), added to any bonus earned.
Advance each Player's Token on the Scoring Track based on the points earned.
This ends the turn. The board and Grids are erased, and the next player clockwise is now the Leader. The new Leader takes his Notepad so as to have the Leader Board in front of them. A new turn begins and proceeds as the previous one. (See Gameplay)
End of the Game
The game ends when each player has had one turn as the Leader.
The player with the highest score wins! In case of a tie, the victory is shared.
For a quick game with 6 or 7 players: if at the end of a round one or more players have at least 25 points, the game ends. The player with the highest score is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the victory is shared.