Tic-tac-toe

Tic-tac-toe, or, as it is known in England, Noughts and Crosses, is an intriguing game. The rules are quite simple. The first player is ‘X’. The second ‘O’ and they take turns drawing ‘X’’s and ‘O’s on the 3 x 3 grid. The winner is the player who succeeds in completing a row, column or diagonal of his three marks, three ‘X’s or three ‘O’s.

Toe-tac-tic

In toe-tac-tic, or misère tic-tac-toe, the winner is the player who does not make a three-in-a-row! The player that creates three-in-a-row/column/diagonal is the loser. In toe-tac-tic, the second player has an advantage. This is easily understood, since the first player, ‘X’, draws five ‘X’s as opposed to his four ‘O’’s.

Wild Tic-tac-toe

Instead of one player always drawing ‘X’ and the other ‘O’, each player can draw whatever he chooses on his turn – ‘X’ or ‘O’! This might sound preposterous! How do we know who the winner is? The answer is, of course, that the player who completes a three-in-a-row is the winner, regardless of what the symbol is. Wild tic-tac-toe is not very interesting. If played carefully the first player is a decisive winner. He does this by playing the center square.