Tic Tac Toe Game

Tic Tac Toe is a fun, simple and easy game to play. It can be played anywhere and at any time as long as you have paper and a pencil handy and a friend to play against. Your age and native language is no barrier if you want to play tic tac toe and it is free to play against the computer on this website. In case you have never played before, this webpage explains 'How to Play Tic Tac Toe'. If you already know how then why not start playing now.

How to play Tic Tac Toe

In tic tac toe, there are two players in which each player takes their turn to play a move on a board of 9 squares (3x3). The winner is the first to get three noughts, or crosses in a line either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. One player plays Noughts and the other plays Crosses. If all 9 squares are filled in and nobody achieves 3 Noughts or Crosses in a line, then the game is declared a tie. On this website, for simplicity, you will always play Crosses and the computer will always play Noughts. Despite the simplicity of the game, there are 255,168 outcomes of the game. When Crosses goes first, there are a possible 131,184 ways that Crosses can end up winning, and 77,904 ways that Noughts can win. This leaves a total of 46,080 ways to tie a game. Traditionally the first player to play in a game of tic tac toe plays crosses although there is no strict rule to say this should always be.

The game is known as Noughts and Crosses in Great Britain. It was first called Noughts and Crosses in Britain in 1864. The reason why it's called this is self-explanatory, one player plays Noughts and the other plays Crosses.

The Origins of Tic Tac Toe

The Tic Tac Toe game is an ancient game that has been played in Great Britain for centuries. The origins are unknown but it is thought to possibly have been played by ancient Egyptians at one time. An early variant was also played in Roman times.

There are other variants of the game closely related to tic tac toe, such as Three Men's Morris. Sometimes the game is even played on a 4x4 grid where the goal is to be the first to get 4 crosses in a row, although it is by far more common to use on a 3x3 board. You can even use a 5x5 board where the goal is to get 5 noughts or crosses in a line. The bigger the board, the bigger the line you'll have to make in order to win.

Tic Tac Toe Strategy

Tic Tac Toe isn't a game of chance as it often thought to be. With practise, you will some learn all the tricks and once mastered you'll soon become an expert strategist. Once you master some simple strategies, you should be able to win the majority of tic tac toe games. In order to be the best and maximise your chances of winning, there are a few strategies you can bear in mind.

The first thing to bear in mind is to always try to move in the centre square if you are playing the opening move. The second player should focus on blocking the first player, or be more attacking and try to create his own row of three.

If the centre square is unavailable because your opponent has taken it, your next best square is one of the 4 corner squares.

One good winning strategy is the Right, Left, Above and Below Strategy. After your opponent has made a move, see if you can move to the right of his move. If the move is unavailable, try to move in the square to the left of his, and then the square above and finally the square below.

Another good strategy is to focus on placing your moves in any 3 corners of the board. This way you have a greater chance of having multiple possible winning moves on your next turn, making it impossible for your opponent to block you from winning.

Practise Makes Perfect

If you really want to improve at this game, memorising a list of strategies is not enough to become an expert. The best way is to practise against the computer. You can play tic tac toe online against the computer and quickly become an expert. If you find the computer is too challenging, or not challenging enough then you can adjust the skill level to match. If you would like to play tic tac toe, then why not play online now.