Play Tic Tac Toe Online
Classic X and O against a clever computer opponent.
Tic Tac Toe
How to play Tic Tac Toe
- You play X and the computer plays O. Take turns placing marks on the 3×3 grid.
- Get three of your marks in a row — across, down or diagonally — to win the round.
- If all nine squares fill up with no winner, the round is a draw.
- Click or tap after a round ends to start the next one. The starting player alternates every round.
Controls
- Desktop
- Click an empty square to place your X.
- Mobile
- Tap an empty square to place your X.
About Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe, known as noughts and crosses in many countries, is one of the simplest strategy games ever invented and one of the most widely played. Two players take turns marking a 3×3 grid, and the first to line up three marks wins. Three-in-a-row games have been played for centuries on boards scratched into stone, drawn in sand and doodled in school notebooks, which is a big part of why almost everyone already knows the rules.
On this page you play X against a computer opponent that uses minimax search, a technique from classic chess programs, to look at every possible continuation of the game. Left alone that would make it unbeatable, so the computer deliberately plays a random move about one turn in five. The result is an opponent that plays well most of the time but occasionally slips, which keeps each round interesting. The starting player alternates every round, so you experience both the first-move advantage and the defender's job of forcing a draw.
Tic Tac Toe is a good first game for children learning to plan ahead and a quick break for adults. Because perfect play always ends in a draw, the interesting skill is setting traps: creating forks where two winning lines threaten at once. The scoreboard under the board counts your wins, draws and losses, and your best number of wins is saved in your browser. See the tips below for opening moves that give you the most chances to catch the computer out.
Tips and strategies
- Take the centre square when it is free — it belongs to four different winning lines.
- If you move first, follow up with a corner; corners create the most winning threats.
- Before every move, check whether the computer is one square away from winning, and block it.
- Aim for a fork: a move that creates two winning threats at once, so the computer can only block one.
Tic Tac Toe FAQ
Can the computer be beaten?
Yes. The computer plays well but sometimes makes a mistake, so a well-timed fork can win you the round.
Is Tic Tac Toe a solved game?
Yes. With perfect play from both sides the game always ends in a draw, which is why setting traps matters.
Do I need to install anything to play?
No. The game runs directly in your browser on both desktop and mobile.
