Tic-Tac-Toe

Goal

Place three of your marks in a row — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — before your opponent does. If neither side manages it, the game ends in a draw.

Modes

• Beginner (Computer): the Computer plays the worst move it can find. Great for kids — you'll win every time.
• Easy (Computer): the Computer plays random legal moves. Adults win most games.
• Medium (Computer): the Computer blocks your wins and takes its own. Expect close games and frequent draws.
• Hard (Computer): the Computer plays optimally — a draw is the best result you can hope for.
• 2 Players: two players take turns on the same device. X goes first; the marks swap on each rematch.

Controls

• Click or tap any empty cell to place your mark.
• Tab to the board, use Arrow keys to move focus, Space or Enter to place.

Tips

• Going first is a small advantage — whoever places the opening mark can force at least a draw with perfect play.
• The center is the strongest opening square. Corners are next best; edges are weakest.
• Watch for forks — a single move that creates two winning threats at once. Forks are how Hard mode wins.

History & other names

Tic-Tac-Toe is one of the oldest known games. Its direct ancestor, Terni Lapilli, was played by Roman citizens in the 1st century BC — archaeologists have found 3×3 grids scratched into pavements all over the Roman Empire. The modern paper-and-pencil version with X's and O's took its current shape in 19th-century Britain.

The game goes by many names around the world: in British English it is Noughts and Crosses; American children also call it Xs and Os or simply Tic-Tac-Toe. Spanish speakers call it Tres en raya, French Morpion or Tic-tac-toe, Italian Tris or Filetto, German Tic-Tac-Toe or Drei gewinnt, Russian Крестики-нолики, Japanese 三目並べ, Chinese 井字棋, and Portuguese Jogo da Velha.

The 3×3 version is mathematically a solved game — perfect play by both sides always ends in a draw. That's exactly why the Hard difficulty here will never lose to you: it just plays optimally. Beating Hard is impossible, but holding it to a draw is a small victory of its own.