Tic Tac Taco
Welcome to the homepage for the card game Tic Tac Taco ⭕️❌🌮!
Tic Tac Taco is a fresh twist on the classic tic-tac-toe game where its Tortillas vs Nachos and players are challenged to be the first with three taco combos in-a-row! It may sound easy but things get spicy as players strategically use power-up cards to block, sneak, and steal to create an all out food fight!
check it out!
WINNING TIC TAC TACO
Be the first to make TIC-TAC-TACO by getting 3 Taco Combos in-a-row!
MAKING COMBOS
1 Taco Combo = 1 base card + 1 Carne + 1 Queso
Carne can only be placed on a base card
Queso can only be placed on a Carne card
When a Taco Combo is made, flip those 3 cards over so the TIC-TAC-TACO logo is facing up
SETTING UP
Pick teams: Nachos vs Tortillas
Each team takes their base cards (x4)
Whoever ate tacos most recently gets the NachoTortilla base card (x1) and goes first
Take turns placing one of your base cards face up on a flat surface
The first base card can be placed anywhere
Then, each of the next base card must share an edge or a corner with another base card
Continue until you have 3 rows and 3 columns each being 3 base cards long/wide
This grid of 3x3 base cards is where the other Carne and Queso filling cards will be placed
RULES
Take turns - each turn you can either:
PLAY a card from your hand
DRAW a card from the DRAW pile
You must always have 3 cards in your hand:
When a card is played or stolen, draw a card
When a card is drawn, discard any card
You can only place toppings (Carne or Queso) on YOUR base card (Nacho or Tortilla) or the NachoTortilla base card
You must have Carne filling cards on ALL 4 of YOUR base cards before you can place a Carne card on the NachoTortilla base card
Same as Rule #4 but for Queso filling cards
If DRAW pile is empty, shuffle DISCARD pile
in the deck
BASE CARDS - used as the base for building a taco combo - includes: Tortilla (x4), Nacho (x4), Nacho Tortilla (x1)
FILLING CARDS - played on top of base cards to build a taco combo - includes: Carne (x14), Queso (x14)
POWER-UP CARDS - played to strategically cause chaos, then discard - includes: Taco-pocalypse (x6), Guac-Block (x4), Pico de Futuro (x3), and Steal a Bite (x3).
frequently asked questions
Q: When creating the 3x3 grid of Nacho, Tortilla, and NachoTortilla base cards, can I place a base card anywhere?
A: The first player can place the FIRST base card anywhere on the playing surface. Every base card after that must be next to an edge or corner of a previously placed base card. Base cards cannot be placed outside of a 3x3 grid (e.g., placing a base card that creates a row or column of 4 cards)
Q: How many unique arrangements of the 3x3 grid can be made?
A: There are 166 unique ways to arrange the 4 Tortilla cards, 4 Nacho cards, and 1 NachoTortilla card in a 3x3 grid if you count arrangements as the same if the entire 3x3 grid were to be rotated.
Q: How do Power-Up cards work?
A: When it’s your turn you can play a Power Up card from your hand. Place it in front of you and follow the instructions on the card. Once the action is completed, discard the use Power Up card to the discard pile.
Q: How do you play the Taco-pocalypse Power Up cards?
A: When it’s your turn you can play 1 Taco-pocalypse card from your hand by placing it in front of you on the table. You can only play 1 Taco-pocalypse card per turn. The card remains in front of the player until 3 Taco-pocalypse cards have been played by one player.
Q: What happens when a player plays the 3rd Taco-pocalypse card?
A: When a player has played 3 Taco-pocalypse cards this resets all the taco combos back to the base layer. Immediately discard all the toppings (Carne, Queso cards) to the discard pile. Any base cards that have been flipped over to be face up, remain face up. Any base cards that have not been flipped over and are face down, remain face down. Any Taco-pocalypse cards played by the other team remain in play.
Q: If my opponent has played 1 Taco-pocalypse card and I play my 2nd Taco-pocalypse card does this count as the 3 Taco-pocalypse cards needed for the power up effect to occur?
A: No. The Taco-pocalypse power up effect only occurs when 1 player has played 3 Taco-pocalypse cards. Only the Taco-pocalypse cards you have played count towards the 3 needed for the power up effect.
Q: When I draw a card, can I play it immediately?
A: No. A player is only allowed to complete one action per turn. You will have to wait until your next turn to play a card.
Q: How does the Guac-Block card work?
A: When a player plays the Guac-Block card they can select 1 of the spots in the 3x3 grid and remove any Carne and Queso cards there and place those cards, in addition to the played Guac-Block card, in the discard pile.
Q: My opponent played the Steal a Bite card and randomly took 1 of the 3 cards I had in my hand. Do I get to draw another card?
A: Yes, draw 1 card immediately from the Draw Pile. Players must always have 3 cards in their hand. When a player loses a card they must immediately draw a card from the Draw Pile. This action does not count as your turn. This means after having one of your cards card stolen you will draw 1 card from the Draw Pile and this be the end of your opponent’s turn. Then, it is your turn and you can decide which of the 3 actions you wan to take.
Q: I played the Pico de Futuro card and received 3 cards from the Draw Pile, do I get to keep the 2 remaining cards in my hand plus the 3 cards I just got from the Draw Pile?
A: No. A player must have 3 cards (no more, no less) in their hand. You must first discard the Pico De Futuro and then select 3 of the 5 cards to keep in your hand and discard the other 2 cards.
Q: If it is my turn and I can’t PLAY a card from my hand, do I have to DRAW a card?
A: Yes. You must always perform 1 of the 2 actions: PLAY or DRAW. If you cannot PLAY a card you must DRAW 1 card from the DRAW PILE. You can choose to keep the drawn card and discard 1 card from your hand. Or you can immediately discard the recently drawn card.
Q: Can I make a taco combo with double carne? What about double queso?
A: No, sorry we’d have to charge extra for that! These tortillas and nachos can only handle 1 layer of carne and 1 layer of queso.
Q: We ran out of cards in the Draw Pile, what do we do?
A: Shuffle the cards in the Discard Pile and use this as the new Draw Pile.
base cards
TEAM TORTILLA
The Tortilla base card will be face down in the 3x3 grid to start the game.
The player on Team Tortilla must complete their three-in-a-row taco combos on a Tortilla base card to win.
TEAM NACHO
The Nacho base card will be face down in the 3x3 grid to start the game.
The player on Team Tortilla must complete their three-in-a-row taco combos on a Tortilla base card to win.
NACHOTORTILLA
The NachoTortilla base card will be face down in the 3x3 grid to start the game.
Players on either Team Tortilla or Team Nacho can complete their three-in-a-row taco combos on a NachoTortilla base card to win.
filling cards
CARNE
(step 2 of 3 for a completed combo) this card can be drawn from the DRAW PILE and played on top of any BASE CARD (if you are on Team Nacho you can play this on a Nacho, Tortilla, or NachoTortilla base card—same goes for those on Team Tortilla). The CARNE card must be placed before a QUESO card can be played. You cannot stack two CARNE cards on top of each other.
QUESO
(step 3 of 3 for a completed combo) - this card can be drawn from the DRAW PILE and played on top of any CARNE card. Once a QUESO card has been added to a CARNE and BASE card, that taco combo is complete. No other FILLING cards can be played on top.
power up cards
GUAC-BLOCK
Guac-Block is played from the hand during a player’s turn. When played, the player selects 1 of the spots in the 3x3 grid and remove any Carne and Queso cards on the base card there and then places those cards, in addition to the played Guac-Block card, in the discard pile
PICO DE FUTURO
Pico De Futuro is played from the hand during a player’s turn. When played, the player draws the next 3 cards from the DRAW PILE and can choose to keep 1, 2, or 3 of those cards in their hand. The player must discard any unkept cards so they have a total of 3 cards in their hand at the end of the turn.
STEAL A BITE
Steal A Bite is played from the hand during a player’s turn. When played, the player either draws the next 1 card randomly from their opponent’s hand or they can take the top card from the DISCARD PILE. The stealing player must discard any extra cards so they have a total of 3 cards in their hand at the end of the turn. The player who had a card stolen from them draws one card from the DRAW PILE.
TACO-POCALYSPE
Taco-Pocalypse is played from the hand during a players turn and placed on the table face up in front of them. A player must have 3 Taco-Pocalypse cards placed in front of them for the power up effect to occur. Only 1 Taco-Pocalypse card can be played per turn. When 3 cards are played, remove all FILLING and POWER UP cards and place them in the DISCARD PILE. All BASE CARDS should remain in the position they were in before the 3rd Taco-Pocalypse card was played (some or all BASE CARDS may be face up and remain face up, any face down BASE CARDS remain face down.)
© 2023 Ben J. Miller