OVERVIEW

  • Estimated trophy difficulty: 1/10 with guide, 2/10 at most without. (personal estimate) (Trophy Difficulty Rating)
  • Offline trophies: 31 (4, 23, 3, 1)
  • Online trophies: 0
  • Approximate amount of time to Platinum: 30mins with Guide, 2hrs without. (personal estimate) (Estimated Time to Platinum)
  • Minimum number of playthroughs: Complete 22 specific levels.
  • Number of missable trophies: None.
  • Glitched trophies: N/A
  • Does difficulty affect trophies?: Yes but all levels have preset difficulties including Beginner, Easy, Medium and Hard.
  • Do trophies stack?: Yes, there are currently 6 lists: 3 on PS4 (NA, EU, AS) and 3 on Vita (NA, EU, AS)
  • Do cheat codes disable trophies?: No cheats
  • Additional peripherals required?: No

 

POWGI is well-known for their large array of quick puzzle games, most based on a common game (minesweeper, crosswords etc.) but with a little twist to make it their own. This one takes the classic game of Tic-Tac-Toe to a whole new level! Instead of trying to match three to win the game, you literally have to do the exact opposite. Instead, you have to fill the grid with letters but making sure that none have more than two of the same letters consecutively. As the difficulty level increases so does the grid size, and so does the awareness necessary! Even so, in the end, like the rest of the games in their compilation, this is an easy game to play and quick to finish, and a great choice when you need a quick platinum or want to zone out!

TIP: In the pause menu, there is an option that says: "Use XO." As you can probably guess, it turns the various letters into X's and O's rather than whatever two that level uses. If that helps you, feel free to use it, it won't void any trophies but unless you plan to play all 120 levels, I'd suggest leaving it off so that it's easier for you to keep track of the levels, which ones you've done and which you have left.

TIP: Press or when in the select screen to cycle through the list of puzzle packs. Annoyingly, the game takes you back to the first page every single time you go back into the select screen so try to remember where you were, especially if you're not planning on doing all 120 levels.
 

All in all, there are a whopping total of 120 levels but if you're only after the platinum, you only have to complete 22 specific levels. Unfortunately, there are no level names and, without opening each one, no obvious distinguishing marks so the letter combos are the only way to tell them apart. In the guide below, each trophy contains the exact level number and location (which page, row and button) for each corresponding letter combo to help you keep track.

There are four difficulties in total, each on their own page, and you will need to solve certain puzzles in each difficulty. The difference between them is grid size and the number of starting letters filled. Beginner comes with an 8x8 grid, Easy is 12x8, Medium is 14x10, and lastly, Hard is 16x12.

When you start a level, depending on the difficulty, the game will start you off with some letters already in place. One letter will be blue and one will be black and the idea is to never have more than two of the same letters/colors next to each other so naturally, the first thing you want to do in any level is to look for all instances where two letters/colors are side by side (e.g. XX) and place the opposite letter/color on each end (e.g: OXXO) or the ones that are next to each other but with an open space in between (e.g. D __ D) and fill the blank with the opposite (e.g. DKD). Doing this will almost always lead you to yet another group of matches to continue the pattern with, and on and on you go until the grid is full! In harder difficulties, the game gives you fewer matches to start with and less filled-in letters in general so if you have any trouble, remember there are various hints available (see Tac-Tics).


Step 1 Play the game and complete the 22 levels specified below

When you start your first level, it'll show you instructions on how to play the game. Make sure to go through each page pressing until the last page to unlock a trophy. If you forget, you can do so in any level at any time by pressing .

Otherwise, you don't really need to worry about the other trophies just yet as you'll most likely get them naturally as you complete the levels. Perhaps the only one you might want to keep in mind is that you're going to need to use 100 hints in total by the end ( Help Meowt) but even that one isn't so important because it's easy to speed through it; if you want to just get it over with quickly, all you have to do is spam the hint button every time you put in a letter and you'll probably finish it in one or two levels.

By the end of this step, you will have earned:

In-fur-mation
Shall We Play a Game?
How About a Nice Game of Chess?
Hugs and Kisses
TA-Daaaaa!
Heeby GB
Tuning In
Boobs! It Says Boobs!
Scrambled Eggs
That's IT!
Dancing Queen
Hysterical
Gnice Gnoing
Laughing Out Loud
Things That Make You Go Hmm
DO-Gooder
Puppies!
Rootin' Tootin'
Seek YE and Ye Shall Find It
The Joy of EX
Aha!
YR Doin GR8
I See You
Your Puzzle FU Is Strong
Sweet as PI


Step 2: Clean up any remaining trophies

Although it's unlikely you'll still have these trophies missing by the end, in case there's any, go back and complete any puzzle you wish and do the following: complete a puzzle in 60 seconds, do nothing for 60 seconds, solve a puzzle without making a mistake, solve one without using any hints or "fixes" and finally, if you still haven't, read the instructions ()!

By the end of this step, you'll receive:

The Only Winning Move Is Not to Play
Help Meowt
Who's a Clever Boy?
Tac-Tics
Tic-Tock
A Strange Game

[PST Would Like To Thank ixii for this Roadmap]

Tic-Tac-Letters by POWGI Trophy Guide

Printable Guide
Show completed trophies
Show secret trophies

31 trophies ( 23  4  )

  • Collect all the trophies

    Going from row to row, left to right, the 22 levels necessary for the trophies are:

    Beginner Puzzles (8x8 grid, first page)

    • Level 1 — Xs & Os
    • Level 3 — Ts & As
    • Level 6 — Bs & Gs
    • Level 10 — Fs & Ms
    • Level 14 — Bs & Os
    • Level 20 — Es & Gs

    Easy Puzzles (12x8 grid, second page)

    • Level 3 — Is & Ts
    • Level 11 — Bs & As
    • Level 15 — Hs & Es
    • Level 22 — Gs & Ns
    • Level 29 — Ls & Os

    Medium Puzzles (14x10 grid, third page)

    • Level 5 — Ms & Hs
    • Level 13 — Ds & Os
    • Level 17 — Us & Ps
    • Level 21 — Ts & Os
    • Level 30 — Ys & Es

    Hard Puzzles (16x12 grid, fourth page)

    • Level 2 — Es & Xs
    • Level 9 — As & Hs
    • Level 13 — Ys & Rs
    • Level 16 — Cs & Us
    • Level 26 — Fs & Us
    • Level 30 — Ps & Is
  • Read the instructions to the end

    When you open the first puzzle, the game will automatically load the instructions. All you need to do is flip through all 4 pages by pressing and the trophy will pop. If by chance you forgot to do this, then don't worry, you can pull the instructions back up at any time simply by pressing while in any puzzle.

  • Solve your first Beginner puzzle

    All 30 puzzles in the first page are considered Beginner difficulty, thus having an 8x8 grid, and are by far the easiest to solve as these come with the most already-provided letters. The first puzzle you need to solve is the XO one (see Hugs and Kisses) which is the very first level in the game. Once you've finished, both trophies will pop at the same time.

  • Solve your first Hard puzzle

    All hard puzzles are located on the fourth (and last) page and come with a 16x12 grid. The first Hard level you'll need to solve is the 2nd level on that page, which is the EX level. See The Joy of EX. When completed, the trophy will pop.

    Hard puzzles are also the only ones that have an extra rule: no one column or row can be identical to another. Sometimes they'll give you rows with almost the same exact placements as another but where only two letters need to be switched so that it's different.

    That said, most of the time though this won't really be an issue as you won't even notice the similarity because you'll be focused on the letters, and if you use hints or checks, you don't even need to think about this rule. Personally, I never came across two rows where I had to actually think about them being identical and purposefully change it for that reason. Rather, I just completed them naturally by focusing on my letter placement and color-matches.

    TIP: Since they don't void the trophies, if you want to do this faster, use the hint button every letter placement that isn't 100% obvious (such as those directly next to two identical letters,) and you'll be done in no time. It's not much fun but you could speed through the entire platinum in 30 minutes or less by doing this! See Help Meowt and Tic-Tacs.

  • Spend at least 60 seconds considering something futile

    This is probably the easiest trophy in any game, because all you need to do is put your controller down for 60 seconds. Just don't press any button for a full minute and you're done! This can be done on any puzzle, even the first.

  • Use Hint 100 times

    The game offers three ways to help you: Hints, Checks and Fixes.

    To activate a hint, press at any time, and the game will highlight a specific row or column. If there are two identical letters next to each other, or with one space in between, the hint will highlight that row first.

    If there are no doubles or such on the grid at that time, you can still use hints as there are other things the hint can draw your attention to. Each row and column in the grid has a specific number of black and blue letters that must be but have yet to be placed and you can see that number on the far left and bottom sides of the grid. Hints can also indicate that there are only one-color letters remaining for that row. Lastly, if none of these three options are present, a hint can draw you to a column that needs a double or that has a simple answer.

    Although it sounds as though this could be annoying to use 100 times, it's actually super easy, because you don't even have to do what the hint tells you. You can literally spam the hint button every time you put in a letter and you'll easily finish this in one to two puzzles. Hints won't affect any trophy except for the Tac-Tics trophy, which you can do with any puzzle at any time so feel free to use the hints whenever you need to.


    NOTE: You can also spam the hint button even without placing any letters in between and still have them count toward the 100 total. (jandre44 has confirmed this method works.)

  • Solve a puzzle without making a single mistake

    Despite the way the trophy description is phrased, for whatever reason, you can make mistakes in terms of placing the wrong letter in the wrong spot and still get this trophy, just as long as you don't use the "Check" function (pressing and together) which indicates the presence of a mistake. The easiest puzzle to do this on is of course the very first level of the game, the XOs (see Hugs and Kisses) and you can do this on a previously-completed level too.

  • Solve a puzzle without using Fix or Hint

    The game offers three ways to help you: Hints, Checks and Fixes. For this trophy you simply have to complete any level without using a Fix or a Hint, meaning you can still use Checks if you want to. The easiest puzzle to do this on is the very first level of the game, the XOs level (see Hugs and Kisses) and you can do this on a previously-completed level, too.

    A check (pressing and together) will tell you if there are any mistakes on the field. If there are, the game will give you a choice between cancelling or a "fix," which means the game will highlight any current mistake made so you can still technically use a "check" but if you do, just don't press "fix" when the option comes up.

  • Solve a puzzle in under 60 seconds

    Solve any puzzle at all in under 60 seconds. Each puzzle has a timer on the bottom of the screen showing how long you've been in that level. As with all the other specific trophies, the easiest level to do this on is the very first one but you can also do this on a previously-completed level.

  • Solve Xs and Os

    Difficulty: Beginner.
    Complete the very first level of the game!

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ts and As

    Difficulty: Beginner.
    Complete puzzle #003 overall, which is the 3rd level of the first page (3rd in first row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Bs and Gs

    Difficulty: Beginner.
    Complete puzzle #006 overall, which is the 6th level of the first page (6th in first row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Fs and Ms

    Difficulty: Beginner.
    Complete puzzle #010 overall, which is the 10th level of the first page (10th in first row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Bs and Os

    Difficulty: Beginner.
    Complete puzzle #014 overall, which is the 14th level of the first page (4th in second row).


    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Es and Gs

    Difficulty: Beginner.
    Complete puzzle #025 overall, which is the 25th level of the first page (5th in third row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Is and Ts

    Difficulty: Easy.
    Complete puzzle #033 overall, which is the 3rd level of the second page (3rd in first row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Bs and As

    Difficulty: Easy.
    Complete puzzle #041 overall, which is the 11th level of the second page (1st in 2nd row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Hs and Es

    Difficulty: Easy.
    Complete puzzle #045 overall, which is the 15th level of the second page (5th in 2nd row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Gs and Ns

    Difficulty: Easy.
    Complete puzzle #052 overall, which is the 22nd level of the second page (2nd in 3rd row)

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ls and Os

    Difficulty: Easy.
    Complete puzzle #059 overall, which is the 29th level of the second page (9th in 3rd row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ms and Hs

    Difficulty: Medium.
    Complete puzzle #065 overall, which is the 5th level of the third page. (5th in 1st row)

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ds and Os

    Difficulty: Medium.
    Complete puzzle #073 overall, which is the 13th level of the third page (3rd in second row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Us and Ps

    Difficulty: Medium.
    Complete puzzle #077 overall, which is the 17th level of the third page (7th in second row)

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ts and Os

    Difficulty: Medium.
    Complete puzzle #081 overall, which is the 21st level of the third page (1st in third row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Difficulty: Medium.
    Complete puzzle #090 overall, which is the 30th level of the third page (30th in third row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Es and Xs

    Difficulty: Hard.
    Complete puzzle #092 overall, which is the 2nd level of the fourth page (2nd in first row).

    This is the first Hard puzzle you'll do if you're only doing trophy-related levels so this one will also net you the How About a Nice Game of Chess? trophy to complete a Hard level. See How About a Nice Game of Chess for details on the Hard levels.

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Aha!

     

    Solve As and Hs

    Difficulty: Hard.
    Complete puzzle #099 overall, which is the 9th level of the fourth page (9th in first row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ys and Rs

    Difficulty: Hard.
    Complete puzzle #103 overall, which is the 13th level of the fourth page (3rd in second row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

     

  • Solve Cs and Us

    Difficulty: Hard.
    Complete puzzle #106 overall, which is the 16th level of the fourth page (6th in second row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Fs and Us

    Difficulty: Hard.
    Complete puzzle #106 overall, which is the 26th level of the fourth page (6th in third row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

  • Solve Ps and Is

    Difficulty: Hard.
    Complete puzzle #120 overall, which is the 30th level of the fourth page (10th in third row).

    See below for the completed puzzle:

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