Tic-Tac-Toe (XOXO)

Tic-tac-toe — noughts and crosses, or XOXO — is the first strategy game most of us ever play. Two players take turns marking the squares of a 3 × 3 grid, one with X and one with O, and the first to get three in a line wins.

It is small enough to be solved completely: two players who both know the ideas below will draw every time. That is exactly what makes it a good quick contest between friends — the winner is the one who spots the other’s slip.

How to start a game

1. 1Open Tic-Tac-Toe on Alex Play Zone and pick a nickname.
2. 2Play the bot, or create a room and send the code to a friend.
3. 3X goes first. Tap an empty square to place your mark.
4. 4Each move has a 45-second timer. In a room you can set a series, so the first player to a number of wins takes the match.

The rules of Tic-Tac-Toe (XOXO)

Playing

• Players take turns; each turn you mark one empty square.
• A mark, once placed, stays where it is.

Winning and drawing

• Three of your marks in a row, a column or a diagonal wins.
• If all nine squares are filled and nobody has a line, the game is a draw.

How to play well

Corners and the centre

The centre square is part of four possible lines, each corner of three, and each edge square of only two. Open in a corner or the centre, never on an edge.

Make a fork

A fork is a position where you threaten two lines at once. Your opponent can block only one, so you win with the other. Two corners and the centre, with the squares between them empty, is the classic shape.

Block the fork before it exists

If your opponent holds two opposite corners and you hold the centre, play an edge square — not a corner. It forces them to block you, and the fork never appears.

The order of thinking

Every turn, in this order: win if you can; otherwise block a line of two; otherwise create a fork; otherwise stop your opponent’s fork; otherwise take the centre, then a corner.

Remember: Take the centre if it is free — it is part of four possible winning lines.

Common mistakes

• Opening on an edge square, which gives up the initiative at once.
• Answering a corner opening with anything but the centre — every other reply loses against good play.
• Seeing your own two-in-a-row and missing that your opponent already has one.

Questions and answers

Can the first player always win?

No. With correct play from both sides tic-tac-toe is always a draw. The first player wins only if the second makes a mistake.

What is the best first move?

A corner. It leaves the second player exactly one safe reply — the centre.

Who goes first in the next round?

In a room, the winner of a round starts the next one; after a draw the first move changes hands.