Wild tic-tac-toe

Wild tic-tac-toe is an impartial game similar to tic-tac-toe. However, in this game players can choose to place either X or O on each move.^[1][2] This game can also be played in its misere form where if a player creates a three-in-a-row of marks, that player loses the game.^[3]

A completed game of Wild Tic-Tac-Toe

Regular game

Wild tic-tac-toe is played on a 3-by-3 board by two players, who take turns placing an X or an O on any unoccupied square.^[4][5] The player who completes a straight or diagonal line of 3 X's or 3 O’s wins.^[3][6] In this version of the game, the player which makes the first move can always win.^[1][2][7]

Misere game

This game is exactly like the regular version of the game except the player who creates a line of any three marks (Xs or Os) in a row loses the game.^[3][5]

The second player can force a draw by playing a mark opposite of the opponent's mark and choosing X if the opponent chose O (or vice versa).^[3]

See also

• Tic-tac-toe variants

References

1. "Puzzles in Education - Wild Tic-Tac-Toe". puzzles.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
2. BAUMANN (2013-06-29). BASIC Game Plans: Computer Games and Puzzles Programmed in BASIC. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781475739183.
3. Epstein, Richard A. (2012-12-28). The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic. Academic Press. ISBN 9780123978707.
4. Mendelson, Elliott (January 2016). Introducing Game Theory and its Applications. CRC Press. ISBN 9781482285871.
5. Lee, Carl (November 2022). "Some Games for Math Circles" (PDF). Retrieved December 14, 2016.
6. "Variations of Tic Tac Toe" (PDF).
7. Epstein, Richard A. (2014-06-28). The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, Revised Edition. Gulf Professional Publishing. ISBN 9780080571843.