Walkthrough for, err, Walking Into It by Andrew Schultz blurglecruncheon@gmail.com Game page: http://andrewschultz.itch.io/walking-into-it Source control page: http://github.com/andrewschultz/walking-into-it This game was entered in the 2021 IFComp. First of all, if you were wondering, the kid's name is randomly chosen from various unisex names in wii.txt. They will be referred to as "the kid" for brevity's sake and also because I originally wrote this document before testers suggested I give the kid a name. I chose a maximum of one per starting letter, though some went unused. If you have any ideas for the missing letters, I'd love to know. I'd be glad to give you credit. I just did a quick Google search. In order to please the kid, you need to be able to let them win at tic-tac-toe. But you can't let them win by being dumb and missing an immediate three-in-a-row! The key is to set things up so the kid can win two ways with their next move, and you can't block both. There are six possible scenarios you need to fulfill. You can start on the edge, in a corner, or in the center. So can the kid. Note that starting on any corner square is equivalent, as is starting on any side square. You can just rotate or mirror the board. We'll go roughly from easiest to lose to hardest. The exact difficulty is debatable, but it seems most orderly to organize things this way: 1. kid goes first, center 2. kid goes first, corner 3. kid goes first, side 4. you go first, side 5. you go first, corner6 6. you go first, center Note the kid moves randomly on the first move, but after that, it's relatively fixed, and they always block or find a fork when they can. To understand the notation, the numbers are the orders of moves. X goes first, third and fifth, and so forth. I also assume that O plays second. I hope that rotations of these solutions won't be too hard to figure out, because the kid, when they start on an edge or corner, randomly picks from any of the four. As a few last-ditch "don't use the walkthrough unless necessary" prods: there are only finitely many choices, and unique ones are cut down by 1) having to make obvious blocks and 2) rotations and symmetry, so you can win/lose right by process of elimination without, hopefully, too much sweat. You also probably figured that, when in doubt, take an edge, as that makes the fewest threats and lets the kid make more threats. But not always! You, of course, have to take the center to win a couple of ways, but sometimes the corner is the right move. You need a little foresight. ==========================1. kid goes first, center Unsurprisingly, the easiest way for the kid to win is by starting in the center. You have all kinds of ways to mess up. However, this is the one the kid chooses. ..|5x|3x --+--+-- ..|1x|2o --+--+-- 4o|..|.. (Note that if the kid placed an X on the side the corner as their second move, they could still force a win. But this might overlap with other cases, for instance, when the kid started in the corner.) There are other ways to win, but I hard-coded this so the kid's win wouldn't overlap others. ==========================2. kid goes first, corner If you move on the side square next to them, this happens: ..|..|.. --+--+-- 2o|5x|.. --+--+-- 1x|4o|3x If you move on a far side square, the same thing happens, with a slight transposition: 3x|2o|.. --+--+-- 4o|5x|.. --+--+-- 1x|..|.. Note (3x) in the lower right corner would've worked, too, as the kid would still take the center. It's worth noting that O taking the center would make it very hard for X to win, but taking the final corner would lose: 4o|..|1x --+--+-- ..|2o|.. --+--+-- 3x|..|5x ==========================3. kid goes first, side Finally, if the kid starts on the side, it's a bit tricky, but with thoughtful enough bad play, O can allow a win. 5x|1x|.. --+--+-- 2o|3x|.. --+--+-- ..|4o|.. ..|4o|.. --+--+-- 1x|3x|2o --+--+-- 5x|..|.. Note that this second one may overlap with the kid going first, because you can switch your first and second moves. But the first way is an ironclad way through. ==========================4. you go first, side So this brings us to tougher stuff. What if the player goes first? You can imagine it's easiest for the kid to win if the player starts on the side. You'd be right. ..|5x|.. --+--+-- 1x|2o|3x --+--+-- 6o|4o|.. This is sort of like how the kid goes first, as you wasted a move on the side. ==========================5. you go first, corner The kid plays a bit oddly here. The reason is that I realized starting in the corner can transform into one of the ways to start on the side. So the game would be unwinnable if you started on the side and lost, then started in the corner. 1x|3x|4o --+--+-- ..|..|5x --+--+-- 6o|..|2o If the kid took the center, this could happen: 1x|..|.. --+--+-- 5x|2o|3x --+--+-- 6o|..|4o Here is how you can also get this position from starting on the side, just with a different order. 3x|..|.. --+--+-- 5x|2o|1x --+--+-- 6o|..|4o Here, you have to play a little dumb-tricky, and so does the kid ... but the kid is maybe smarter than you'd expect. The kid can also distinguish rotations or flips, so you can't get credit for the above position from both starts. Fortunately, there are other ways to lose from each start. And now, finally, you might not think you could plausibly lose after taking the center without obvious oversights. But in fact you can! Yes, it's clearly not best play, but it's sensible. 2o|..|6o --+--+-- 3x|1x|4o --+--+-- 5x|..|.. Once you've fallen into all six of these (or other) traps, the kid is happy. =========================================================