Howdy!

TicTacToe by TechQuests started as a development and testing playground - a project designed to explore and document my journey across cross-platform development. It’s not meant to be a production game or a comprehensive guide, but rather a hands-on documentation of learnings, challenges, and solutions when building, testing, and deploying to multiple platforms simultaneously.

The project demonstrates a complete, multi-platform application built with React Native & Expo for the frontend and Go with WebSockets on the backend. It showcases how to build a cohesive experience across iOS, Android, and Web from a single codebase.

What This Project Explores

This wasn’t about creating a groundbreaking game. Instead, it serves as a practical exploration of:

Cross-platform development with React Native and Expo
Multi-platform deployment targets (iOS, Android, Web)
Backend integration with real-time multiplayer via WebSockets
UI/UX design that works seamlessly across screen sizes
Publishing process and deployment strategies
Testing approaches for multi-platform applications

Game Features

The game itself includes some interesting mechanics:

Normal Mode: Classic 3x3 TicTacToe gameplay
Extreme Mode: A board-of-boards variant that adds strategic depth
Multiple Play Styles: Solo (vs AI), Local Player, or Online Multiplayer
No friction: No ads, no tracking, no unnecessary complexity
Cross-platform UI: Clean interface that adapts to any device

Architecture

The project demonstrates a modern, scalable architecture:

Frontend:

React Native with Expo for rapid cross-platform development
Single codebase targeting iOS, Android, and Web
WebSocket integration for real-time multiplayer communication

Backend:

Go for performance and simplicity
Gorilla WebSocket for real-time bidirectional communication
Room-based game management with auto-cleanup
Minimal binary size ideal for self-hosted deployments

Deployment:

Self-hosted backend on private infrastructure
Over-the-air updates via Expo
App store distribution ready (though this project remains in dev)

Why the Blog Series?

I documented the development process in a dedicated blog series titled “TicTacToe” where I share:

Deep dives into cross-platform framework decisions
UI/UX design processes and iterations
Backend architecture and WebSocket implementation
Deployment and testing strategies
Lessons learned and challenges faced

Read the full blog series here:

Read the series to understand the “why” behind each architectural decision and technical choice.

Finding This Project

While the goal was learning and documentation rather than wide distribution, the project is available:

Available Platforms:

iOS: Published on the App Store
Android: Published on Google Play (internal testing track, invite only)
Web: Hosted version available at tictactoe.techquests.dev (removed for now)
GitHub Repository: github.com/techquestsdev/tictactoe

Find It Online:

Search for “TechQuests - TicTacToe” to find project references
Visit the blog series for detailed development documentation

Final Thoughts

This project succeeded in its primary goal: providing a comprehensive testing ground for cross-platform development. It’s not a case study in game design, but rather a case study in shipping a complete, functional application across multiple platforms with a single codebase.

If you’re exploring cross-platform development or curious about how to architect applications that work seamlessly on iOS, Android, and Web, this project and its associated blog series offer practical, real-world insights.