Tic-Tac-Toe
Free Tic-Tac-Toe against the computer, in your browser. You go first, three in a row wins, and the three opponents are genuinely three different opponents rather than one with a label on it.
- Free
- No ads
- No account
- No download
- Works offline
- Single player
How do you play?
- Choose an opponent - Easy, medium or hard. Choosing clears the board and resets the run.
- Tap a square - You are X and you always move first. The computer answers immediately.
- Make three - Row, column or diagonal. The winning line is highlighted.
- Go again - One tap resets the board, and your run carries over.
About this game
A three by three grid. You are X and you open. Three in a line, any direction, and it is over.
Now the thing no other site will tell you. The hard opponent cannot be beaten. Not hard to beat, cannot. We played 3,000 games against the real opponent with a player making random moves and got 0 wins, 21.7% draws and 78.3% losses. Then we solved the game outright, all 255,168 complete playouts, and there is no line anywhere in it that beats perfect play. Tic-tac-toe is a draw when both sides play correctly. That is a property of the game, not of our code.
Which means a hard record here may stay empty forever, and that is fine. The record counts your longest run of wins against one opponent, so against hard it simply never moves. A draw against something that cannot lose is the achievement, and a child who works that out has understood the game.
The other two are different opponents entirely. Easy picks a random square, and even against that a random player only wins 58.8% of the time, because going first is worth something all by itself. Medium plays correctly about half the time and already beats a random player in 54.3% of games. Same board, same rules, three games.
Switching level resets the run. A different opponent is a different achievement, and it made no sense to pile up wins against the random one in the same counter as wins against the machine that is actually trying.
What does it teach?
Thinking a turn ahead
Every move opens and closes options for both sides. First lesson in strategy there is.
Spotting a threat
Two in a row with a free square is a threat. Seeing it faster than the other player is the entire skill.
That draws exist
Not every contest has a winner, which is a useful idea to meet early.
Losing without drama
A game takes twenty seconds. You can lose and restart instantly, which drops the cost of a mistake to almost nothing.
Tips
Take the centre
The centre sits on four winning lines, a corner on three, an edge on only two. If the centre is open, that is the move.
Build a fork
Two opposite corners create two threats at once and your opponent can only block one. This is the practical way to beat medium.
Block before you build
Every turn, check whether they have two in a row first. An unblocked threat ends the game immediately.
Against hard, play for the draw
Centre, then block consistently. A draw against a perfect opponent is the best result that exists.
What age is it for?
4 to 5
Easy, usually together. At this age three in a row is itself the new idea.
6 to 7
Easy alone, then medium. This is where the centre and blocking get discovered.
8 and up
Medium for a long run, hard to find out why it cannot be done.
Adults
Try drawing against hard five times running. Only 21.7% of random games reach a draw, so it is less trivial than it sounds.
Accessibility
One tap per square, no dragging and no press-and-hold. Nine large squares fill most of the screen, so a small finger or an alternative input device hits them without effort. X and O differ in shape rather than colour, so colour blindness changes nothing, and the winning line is marked by a drawn stroke rather than only a tint. No clock and no time pressure, so you can think as long as you like. Nothing flashes and the whole game plays in silence.
Playing together
Two on one device
Take turns against each other and ignore the computer. Same board, opponent you can look at.
Race to a draw
Both of you against hard, counting who drew more out of ten. It changes the definition of winning.
Say the reason
One sentence before each tap about why there. Children discover they had one.
Centre is banned
Play one game where nobody may take the middle. You find out fast what it was worth.
Common questions
Is Tic-Tac-Toe against the computer free?
Completely. Nothing to pay, no purchases inside the game, no paid version. Every game on the site is open immediately.
Do I need to download or sign up?
No to both. It runs in the browser with no download and no account, and we do not ask for an email.
Can the hard level be beaten?
No, and that is deliberate. It calculates the rest of the game before every move. We tested it across 3,000 games for 0 wins, and separately solved all 255,168 possible playouts. A draw is the best result that exists against it.
What is the difference between the levels?
Easy picks a random square. Medium plays correctly about half the time. Hard calculates the perfect move every time. Against a random player they win 29%, 54.3% and 78.3% of games respectively.
Are there ads?
None. No banners and no video between levels.
Does it work offline?
Yes. After one visit the game is stored on the device and runs on a plane.
Can two people play on one device?
There is no dedicated two-player mode, but nothing stops you passing the device back and forth and ignoring the computer entirely.
How is the record measured?
As your longest run of wins against one opponent, where higher is better. Switching level resets the run, because each level is a different opponent. On hard the record may stay empty forever, which is correct.
What age is this for?
From about four on easy, with an adult for the first few. There is no reading anywhere and the only idea needed is three in a row.
Does it collect data about my child?
No. There is no signup and no name. No session recording and no behavioural advertising. We count how many times a game was opened, with nothing attached that identifies who opened it.