Quick summary
A polished, two-player Tic Tac Toe: click to place, track session scores for X, O, and draws, and reset with a reload. Entirely self-contained in one HTML file with inline styling — the smallest possible complete game.
Who this template is for
This is the smallest complete game that still counts as complete. It is for anyone who needs that as a starting point.
- Developers who want a reference for a whole game — state, rendering, win detection, scoring — in one readable file
- Teachers and workshop leads who need a working example small enough to explain in a single session
- Anyone who needs a zero-dependency interactive element that can be dropped anywhere and will simply work
What problem this template solves
Most “browser game” offerings are either heavy engine exports or toy demos that fall apart the moment you look under the hood. This build is neither.
- Engine exports ship megabytes of runtime before the first frame ever draws
- Toy demos skip the hard parts — real collision, game states, difficulty curves and persistence
- Builders who want to learn from a finished game almost never get to see the instructions that produced it
What you get with this template
You get a polished two-player Tic Tac Toe with session scoring, entirely self-contained in a single HTML file with no external scripts.
- Click-to-place two-player local play with win and draw detection handled cleanly
- Session scores tracked for X, O and draws, resetting on reload
- All logic and styling inline in one file — no build step, no dependencies, no external requests
Page sections overview
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Single-File Architecture | Keep all markup, styling and logic in one portable file |
| Win and Draw Detection | Resolve every terminal board state correctly, including full-board draws |
| Session Score Tracking | Hold running X, O and draw totals across a sitting |
| Arcade Visual Treatment | Dress the classic board in bold primaries and bitmap type |
| Zero-Dependency Delivery | Ship with no framework, no bundler and no network requests |
Design & branding system
The identity is arcade-cabinet: saturated primaries, a bitmap display face, and generous hit targets sized for confident clicking.
- A four-colour arcade palette — cabinet yellow, player blue, player red and black — with no intermediate tones
- Bitmap display type for headings and buttons, matched to the era the palette is quoting
- Oversized tap targets throughout, so the board stays comfortable to play with a finger as well as a cursor
Mobile & speed optimization
The game targets desktop first — keyboard and mouse are the primary controls — while staying light enough to load instantly anywhere.
- No engine runtime and no asset downloads, so the whole game arrives in a handful of requests
- A capped frame delta keeps the simulation stable even when the browser tab stutters or loses focus
- The page stays lean: no frameworks, no trackers, nothing between the visitor and the game loop
How this template helps you convert
A playable game holds attention longer than any showreel. The page around it is structured to turn that attention into a next step.
- Visitors play immediately — no signup, download or install stands between them and the first round
- The finished build is fully inspectable, which turns curious players into builders who want the prompt behind it
- The one-time prompt unlock offers a concrete, low-friction next step while the session is still hot
Other information about this template
A few notes on what this build is and is not.
- Play is two-player local on one device; there is no networked or online mode
- Scores live in memory only and reset on reload — nothing is written to storage
- The board size and win-line table are data, so a four-by-four variant is a small change rather than a rewrite
- It is the best starting point in the library for learning how the other games are structured
How it works
All logic and styling live in one file with no external scripts. Session scores sit in a plain JS object; a reload resets the match. Simple, dependency-free, and instant.
Screenshots
Captured from the live build — the title screen and real play, level by level.
