Inspired from classroom boring times, meet Battle of Squares

Published on October 22, 2024

If you talk to teenagers today, it's common to hear them complain about being bored stiff during their classes.

Honestly, this isn't a new phenomenon. Even in my day, we found some classes dragged on. So, we had to find ways to pass the time. Some people chatted, others pulled all sorts of crazy pranks. We, on the other hand, played games.

We started with simple games like tic-tac-toe and hangman. Then we moved on to more complex ones, like 3D tic-tac-toe or this nameless game where the goal was to complete more squares than your opponent. The mechanics were super simple.

On a gridded sheet of paper (like the ones in all our notebooks), we'd draw a playing area (often a large rectangle). Then, taking turns, each player would draw a free side of a square. If a player completed a square (i.e., drew the last free side), they claimed the square, added a small symbol (cross or circle) in the center to mark it as theirs, and took another turn. At the end of the game, the winner was the one who had completed the most squares.

It wasn't complicated. It required a bit of concentration and strategy.
And if the game wasn't finished when the class ended, no worries. We'd just fold the paper and bring it to the next class :)

Years later, I recreated this nostalgic memory in a digital version and called it Battle of Squares.

📒 ➡ 📱 Same but different

The basic mechanics haven't changed: complete more squares than your opponent.

However, a few changes had to be made compared to the original paper version.
First, the medium is completely different. Playing on screens, especially touchscreens like phones or tablets, with varying resolutions, has constrained the size of the playable area. It's smaller than on a notebook.

Second, unlike the paper version where both players are around the same sheet of paper, one of the goals of this new mobile version is to be able to play against someone remotely. As a result, the game is significantly slower, especially during the initial building phases. But if you wait too long for your opponent to play during this initial phase, it can quickly become boring. This means reducing the number of squares to complete to reach the exciting part of the game faster, which is the end when players start completing squares. Additionally, to avoid waiting indefinitely, each player's turn is limited to 20 seconds. This forces them to play or lose the game.

Currently, the basic grid consists of 81 squares (an odd number to ensure players can be distinguished), which is 144 sides to select. It's not very big, but I still find the early phases to be long and frustrating. One idea that was suggested was to "pre-fill" the grid by drawing some sides at the start randomly. It's a pretty good idea that I'll experiment with soon.

In the paper version, there was a rule that not everyone necessarily agreed on. When a player has the opportunity to complete a square, should they be forced to do so? It's a bit like checkers: are you obligated to capture a piece if you have the opportunity? Applying or not applying this rule has consequences for the strategy to be implemented. In this first version, I decided to force the player to complete the square if they have the opportunity.

🕹️ Friend, bot or complete stranger - your choice

As mentioned earlier, this digital version allows you to play online through 3 game modes.

👬 Against a friend allows you to create a private game in which you can invite a specific person (friend or not, but often a friend actually :)) to join using a code, so you can play together.

🌍 Against anyone is the option to challenge a random person on a public grid. By choosing this option, the game will first try to join a public grid created by someone. If no grid is found, a new public grid is created and the game waits for a player to join this grid. I'm aware that at first, there will be few players, and so when you select this option, you'll often be in a waiting phase. With a larger number of players, this could become the preferred mode. You'll have to be patient. In the meantime, there's also the following mode.

🤖 Against a bot is, as the name suggests, the ability to play against a simple artificial intelligence. For now, it's very basic, but my idea is to be able to train new bots based on the played games and offer more or less advanced bots depending on the level of each player.

📢 Your help is requested

That's it, I've reached the end of my introduction article for my new game Battle of Squares.

This is an Alpha version that still needs a lot of refinement. I have several ideas in mind, but it would be even better to have feedback from players. Don't be too harsh, but be truly honest. Constructive criticism is necessary to improve 🙏

You know now what you have to do: download Battle of Squares (links below), play it, and give me feedback either directly in the app or by email at the following address: squares@dargil.com

Have Fun 🥳

NB: Game will soon be available on itch.io and on this website