Game Settings Reference

This is a comprehensive reference for all TacticToy game settings. It covers board parameters, initialization options, gameplay rules, time controls, and turn order — everything that can be configured when creating a game.

For a gentler introduction to the game, see the Game Description.

Board Parameters

These four parameters define the shape and structure of the board. They are set before the game begins and cannot be changed during play.

Side Length (S)

Range: 2–16

The side length of each block. A block with side length S is an S×S grid in 2D, an S×S×S cube in 3D, or an S×S×S×S tesseract in 4D.

Larger side lengths make individual blocks harder to win and games longer. They also leave more room for multiple teams.

Win Line Length (L)

Range: 2–S (cannot exceed side length)

The number of marks in a row needed to capture a block. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal (including 3D and 4D diagonals in higher dimensions).

When L equals S (the default), you must fill an entire row/column/diagonal — exactly like classic tic-tac-toe. When L < S, there are more possible winning lines, making blocks easier to capture.

Examples:

• L=3, S=3 — classic rules, must fill a full row/column/diagonal
• L=3, S=5 — any three consecutive marks in a line win, many more winning positions
• L=5, S=15 — Gomoku rules (five-in-a-row on a large board)

Winning lines in different dimensions (for a single block with S=3, L=3):

Nesting Depth (N)

Range: 1–4

The number of nesting levels. This is TacticToy’s most distinctive parameter.

• N=1 — a single flat board, like classic tic-tac-toe or Gomoku. No allowed area mechanic.
• N=2 — blocks within a board (Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe). The allowed area mechanic activates: your move within a block determines which block your opponent must play in.
• N=3 — blocks within blocks within a board. The constraint cascades through all levels.
• N=4 — four levels of nesting.

Total cells at the ground level (2D):

Cells marked ”—” exceed the maximum volume limit (see Constraints below).

The Allowed Area at Different Depths

At N=1, there is no constraint — players may play anywhere.

At N=2, a player’s cell position within a block maps directly to the opponent’s required block. For example, playing in the top-right cell sends the opponent to the top-right block.

   0 1 2   3 4 5   6 7 8

0  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _       X plays at (4, 1):
1  _ _ _ | _ X _ | _ _ _       position within block = (1, 1)
2  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _       → O must play in block (1, 1)
  _______|_______|_______
3  _ _ _ |[_ _ _]| _ _ _
4  _ _ _ |[_ _ _]| _ _ _       [ ] marks the required area
5  _ _ _ |[_ _ _]| _ _ _
  _______|_______|_______
6  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _
7  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _
8  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _

At N=3, the constraint operates on two levels simultaneously. Your cell position within the innermost block determines which mid-level block the opponent enters, and within that block, which innermost block they must play in.

  0 1   2 3    4 5   6 7

0 _ _ | _ _ || _ _ | _ _       X plays at (5, 1):
1 _ _ | _ _ || _ X | _ _       position within innermost block = (0, 1)
 _____|_____||_____|_____       mid-level block position = (1, 0)
2 _ _ | _ _ ||[_ _]| _ _       → O must play in top-level block (1, 0),
3 _ _ | _ _ ||[_ _]| _ _         mid-level block (0, 1)
 _____|_____||_____|_____
 _____|_____||_____|_____
4 _ _ | _ _ || _ _ | _ _
5 _ _ | _ _ || _ _ | _ _
 _____|_____||_____|_____
6 _ _ | _ _ || _ _ | _ _
7 _ _ | _ _ || _ _ | _ _

Free Moves

When the allowed area sends a player to a block that has no available cells (because it’s been won and locked, or every cell is filled), the player gets a free move — they may play in any block that has open cells. This applies at every depth level: if the allowed area resolves to a filled area at any level, the corresponding constraint is released.

Dimensions (D)

Range: 2–4

The number of spatial dimensions.

• D=2 — the standard flat grid. Cells have (x, y) coordinates.
• D=3 — a cube. Cells have (x, y, z) coordinates. Winning lines can run along any of the three axes or through any 3D diagonal.
• D=4 — a tesseract. Cells have (x, y, z, t) coordinates. The number of possible winning directions explodes.

Higher dimensions don’t just add more cells — they add fundamentally new line directions that don’t exist in lower dimensions. In 3D, there are space diagonals that cut through the cube corner to corner. In 4D, there are hyper-diagonals that have no 3D equivalent.

The display adapts to the dimension count:

• 2D boards are shown as a single grid
• 3D boards are shown as side-by-side 2D slices (one per Z coordinate)
• 4D boards are shown as a matrix of 2D slices (indexed by Z and T)

Parameter Constraints

The four board parameters are not independent — they are subject to global limits that ensure games remain playable:

The border limit prevents the grid from becoming too large to navigate. The volume limit caps the total number of cells to keep games computationally tractable.

These constraints interact: increasing one parameter may force another to decrease. The game UI enforces this automatically — when you adjust one parameter, the others are clamped to valid ranges.

Practical examples:

• S=3, N=3, D=2: border = 27, volume = 729 — valid
• S=3, N=4, D=2: border = 81, volume = 6561 — exceeds volume limit
• S=4, N=2, D=3: border = 16, volume = 4096 — exceeds volume limit
• S=3, N=2, D=3: border = 9, volume = 729 — valid

Team Configuration

Number of Teams

Range: 2–4

Each team has a unique symbol and color:

More teams work best on larger boards where there is room for everyone. On a standard 3x3 board, four teams would leave very few moves per player.

Turn Order Modes

Sequential (default) — teams take turns in fixed order: Team 0, Team 1, Team 2, …, then back to Team 0. If a team is disqualified (resigned or timed out), their turns are skipped.

Simultaneous — all teams must make one move per round, but they can move in any order within the round. Once every active team has moved, a new round begins. This mode is relevant for multiplayer online games where you don’t want to enforce a strict order.

In-Crew Order

When multiple players are on the same team (in online multiplayer):

In Turn (default) — players within a team rotate in fixed order. For instance, together with Sequential teams order mode, and having 1 player A in team X and players B and C in team O, it produces the following move order:

1. Team X Player A,
2. Team O Player B,
3. Team X Player A,
4. Team O Player C,
5. then again from step 1.

Flexible — any player on the team can make the team’s move. First come, first served.

Initialization Settings

These settings add elements to the board before the first move. They can create asymmetric starting positions, add strategic obstacles, or pre-place marks.

Symmetric Obstacles

Type: on/off (default: off)

Places obstacle cells (#) at “fixed points” — cells where the cell’s relative position within its block equals the block’s position within its parent. Each block gets exactly one obstacle, and the obstacle’s position within each block mirrors that block’s own position on the grid.

For example, in a 3x3 with depth 2: block (0,0) gets an obstacle at its cell (0,0) — top-left of top-left. Block (1,0) gets an obstacle at its cell (1,0) — middle column, top row. Block (2,2) gets an obstacle at its cell (2,2) — bottom-right of bottom-right. And so on for all nine blocks.

This creates a symmetric pattern where every block is affected equally. It only takes effect at depth ≥ 2 (there are no parent blocks to compare with at depth 1).

   0 1 2   3 4 5   6 7 8      Symmetric obstacles on a 3x3, depth 2 board.

0  # _ _ | _ # _ | _ _ #      Each block has exactly one obstacle.
1  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _      The obstacle position within a block
2  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _      matches that block's position on the grid.
  _______|_______|_______
3  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _      Block (0,0): obstacle at cell (0,0)
4  # _ _ | _ # _ | _ _ #      Block (1,0): obstacle at cell (1,0)
5  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _      Block (2,0): obstacle at cell (2,0)
  _______|_______|_______      Block (0,1): obstacle at cell (0,1)
6  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _      ...and so on.
7  _ _ _ | _ _ _ | _ _ _
8  # _ _ | _ # _ | _ _ #

Random Obstacles

Range: 0–9 (default: 0)

Scatters obstacle cells randomly across the board. The density value controls how many obstacles appear: roughly value / 2 obstacles per block. At value 0, no obstacles are placed.

Obstacles are distributed across all blocks with some randomization.

Scouts

Range: 0–9 (default: 0)

Like random obstacles, but instead of neutral blockers, scouts place team marks — alternating between teams, with equal count per team. This gives every team an initial foothold on the board before the first real move.

With 2 teams and a scouts value of 4, roughly 2 X marks and 2 O marks are placed per block. The positions are randomized, creating asymmetric starting positions.

Scouts interact with the win-detection system: if enough scouts happen to form a line, a block may be won before the game even begins.

Gameplay Rules

Lock Captured Blocks

Type: on/off (default: off)

When a block is won (a player completes a line), this rule fills all remaining empty cells in that block with protected cells (%). No further moves can be made there.

Without lock: empty cells in a won block remain playable. Other players can still place marks there, even though the block’s ownership is already decided. This matters because:

• The allowed area can still send players there
• Players can use those cells to influence where their opponent is sent next

With lock: a won block is sealed. If the allowed area sends a player to a locked block, they get a free move instead.

   Before lock:                After lock:

   X _ _                      X % %
   X _ _    X wins this  →    X % %
   X _ _    block             X % %

This is a significant strategic lever. With locking enabled, winning blocks creates permanent constraints on the board. Without locking, won blocks still serve as transit points for the allowed area mechanic.

Kyū Rule

Type: on/off (default: off)

Prevents repetitive play by forbidding a player from sending their opponent to the same block three consecutive times. The Kyū rule 窮 name signifies “exhaustion” or “strangling” rule. It’s a thematic nod to the Ko rule in the Go that means “eternity” or “repetition” and prevents recursively useless moves.

How it works:

1. The game tracks the last two blocks each team was sent to.
2. Before a move is accepted, the game checks whether it would send the opponent to the same block for the third time in a row.
3. If it would, and at least two alternative blocks with different destinations exist, the move is rejected.
4. If no alternatives exist (all valid moves lead to the same destination), the move is allowed — the rule is a soft constraint.

Example: If Team 0 has sent Team 1 to block (1,1) for the last two moves, Team 0’s next move must target a different block — unless there are fewer than two alternative destinations available.

The kyū history resets when a player gets a free move (sent to a filled block).

This rule only applies at depth ≥ 2 (the allowed area doesn’t exist at depth 1).

Win Condition

Two modes determine how the game is ultimately won:

Highest Sign (default)

The classic rule: make a line of L marks to capture a block. When a block is captured, the winning team’s mark propagates up to the parent level. The game continues until someone makes a line at the peak — or until no more moves are possible (draw).

At every level of the hierarchy, blocks are won by lines. The game is won by making a line of won blocks at the peak.

Majority

An alternative win condition for deeper boards (depth ≥ 2). Instead of needing a line of won blocks at the peak, a team wins by controlling more than half of all blocks.

• Blocks are still won by lines (same as Highest Sign).
• But at the peak, the first team to capture more than 50% of blocks wins the game.
• For a 3x3 peak grid (9 blocks), a team needs 5 to win.
• Lines of won blocks at the peak do not count as a win in this mode.

This mode changes the game’s character significantly. In Highest Sign mode, three blocks in the right arrangement can win the game; in Majority mode, you need broad control. It rewards steady accumulation over clever positioning.

At depth 1 (no blocks), Majority falls back to Highest Sign behavior — lines are the only way to win.

Time Controls

Time Control

Values: disabled, 10s, 30s, 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h

Sets the maximum time allowed per move. When a player exceeds the time limit, the timeout consequence determines what happens. When disabled (the default), players may take as long as they want.

Timeout Consequence

What happens when a player runs out of time:

Loss (default) — the team is disqualified. If only one team remains, that team wins. This is the standard competitive behavior.

Random Move — a random legal move is made on behalf of the timed-out team. The game continues. This keeps the game going but may put the timed-out team at a disadvantage.

Skip — the team’s turn is skipped entirely without placing any mark. Play passes to the next team.

Special Cell Types

For reference, here are all cell states that can appear on the board:

Summary of Defaults

For quick reference, here are the default values for all settings: