Learn How to Build a Tic Tac Toe App in SwiftUI with Single Player vs. AI

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Getting Started with SwiftUI
• Creating the XO Button
• Designing the Tic Tac Toe Board
• Implementing Player Interactions
• Adding AI for the Bot Player
• Checking for a Winner
• Displaying End Game Messages
• Resetting the Game
• Conclusion

Introduction

In this Tutorial, we will learn how to create a full Tic Tac Toe app using SwiftUI. We will build a simple but functional game where users can play against a bot. The app will have a sleek design with smooth animations. By following along with this tutorial, you will gain a solid understanding of how SwiftUI works and how to build basic interactive apps. So let's get started!

Getting Started with SwiftUI

To begin, we need to create an empty project in Xcode. Once you have your project set up, create a new SwiftUI file called "XOButton" to define the button that the user will click to make an "X" or an "O" appear. Inside the file, we will create a binding variable for the letter input and initialize it as a STRING. We will also add a private variable for degrees to handle the rotation 3D effect of the button. Finally, we will create a ZStack to hold the UI elements, including two circles and a text label to display the letter.

Creating the XO Button

In the XOButton view, we will define the appearance of the button by adding two circles and a text label. The circles will have different sizes and colors, representing the button's appearance when idle and when clicked. The text label will display the letter input, either "X" or "O". We will also add a rotation 3D effect to the button to give it a flip animation when clicked.

Designing the Tic Tac Toe Board

Next, we will move on to the main content view of our app, where the game will be played. We will start by creating some variables, including an array for the moves and a text variable for the end game message. We will also add a boolean variable to track if the game has ended. Inside the body, we will create a VStack to hold the UI elements of the game. We will include a text field for the end game message and attach an alert to it. Below the text field, we will create a custom button for resetting the game. Finally, we will create an HStack to represent the Tic Tac Toe board.

Implementing Player Interactions

Player interactions are crucial for the game functionality. We will use a nested loop structure to create the buttons for the Tic Tac Toe board. Each button will be an instance of the XOButton view, and we will pass the appropriate letter binding to it based on the current state of the game. We will also add a tap gesture to each button to handle player taps on the board.

Adding AI for the Bot Player

To make the app more interesting, we will add a bot player that can play against the user. We will create a function called "botMove" to handle the bot's move. This function will determine the available moves and randomly select one to place an "O" on the board.

Checking for a Winner

To determine if there is a winner in the game, we will create a separate function called "checkWinner". This function will take in the list of moves and the current letter ('X' or 'O') as parameters. It will check the moves against a list of winning sequences to see if any of the sequences are complete with the same letter. If a winner is found, we will update the end game message and set the game ended variable to true.

Displaying End Game Messages

In our app, we want to display a message at the end of the game to indicate the winner or a draw. We will update the end game text variable accordingly when a winner is found or when the game ends in a draw. We will also display an alert dialogue with an option to reset the game or view the results.

Resetting the Game

To allow users to reset the game and start a new one, we will create a function called "resetGame". This function will reset the end game message and clear the list of moves, effectively restarting the game.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully created a Tic Tac Toe app using SwiftUI. In this tutorial, we covered the basics of building an interactive app, including user interactions, game logic, and UI design. We hope you enjoyed following along and learned valuable skills in SwiftUI development. Now it's time to explore more advanced features and add your own personal touches to the app.

Resources:

• Xcode
• SwiftUI Documentation