Tic Tac Toe: Free 2 Player and vs Computer

How to play Tic Tac Toe

X starts. Against the computer you are X, so the first move is always yours. The computer answers with O.
Mark a square. Click or tap any empty square on the grid.
Alternate turns. X and O take turns until someone wins or all nine squares are used.
Make a line of three. Three of your marks in a row, a column or a diagonal ends the game.
Go again. A round takes less than a minute, so press New Game and play the next one.

Rules and computer difficulty

Board: 3 by 3, nine squares.
Winning lines: eight in total: three rows, three columns and two diagonals.
Draw: nine marks with no line of three. Many players call this a "cat's game".
Online: the player who moves first is picked at random, and that player is X.

Pick the computer's level from the toolbar menu. It is remembered for your next visit.

Level	How the computer plays
Easy	Chooses a random empty square every turn
Medium	Plays the perfect move about two times in three, otherwise a random one, so it leaves openings you can exploit
Hard (Unbeatable)	Checks every possible continuation and never loses. A draw is the best result you can get

Your wins count toward the Tic Tac Toe leaderboard, which ranks players by total wins.

Tic Tac Toe strategy: never lose a game

With perfect play from both sides, Tic Tac Toe always ends in a draw. Winning therefore means giving your opponent chances to go wrong, and not losing means knowing the few replies that matter.

Playing X

Open in a corner. It is just as safe as the center and leaves O the most ways to make a mistake.
Punish an edge or a wrong corner. If O answers your corner with anything except the center, you can force a win by building a fork.
Look for the fork. A fork is one move that creates two lines of two at once. O can only block one of them.

Playing O

Corner opening? Take the center. Any other reply lets X force a win.
Center opening? Take a corner. An edge reply is the classic losing move.
Escape the opposite corners trap. If X holds two opposite corners and you hold the center, play an edge square. A corner here hands X a fork.

Every turn, in this order

Can you complete a line? Win now.
Does your opponent have two in a line with the third square open? Block it.
Can you create a fork? Do it.
Is your opponent about to create a fork? Take that square first, or force them to answer a threat.

The unbeatable Hard level is a good sparring partner: once you draw it every single time, your defense is perfect.

Tic Tac Toe 2 player: online and with friends

Short rounds make Tic Tac Toe ideal for a running match with someone. You have three ways to play:

Play online: start a game with whoever is available right now.
Play with a friend: get a private link and share it. The board opens on your friend's phone or computer, no account needed.
Play vs computer: choose a level and play at your own speed.

After each round, hit Rematch and keep score in a best of three, five or ten. The built-in chat has emojis and quick messages for some friendly trash talk between rounds.

History of noughts and crosses

Three-in-a-row games on small grids have been played for centuries in many countries. In Britain the game is called noughts and crosses, while tic-tac-toe is the usual American name. It also earned a place in computing history: in 1952, OXO, a noughts and crosses program for the EDSAC computer at the University of Cambridge, became one of the earliest known video games.

Because the whole game can be worked out by hand, it is often the first game students program, and the method our Hard level uses, checking every possible line of play, is a classic computer science lesson.

Tic Tac Toe on your phone

The nine big squares are easy to hit with a thumb, so it plays nicely in portrait mode on even a small phone. A game against the computer is saved as you go, along with your difficulty, so an incoming call does not cost you the round. For one-tap access, install NitroPlayer on your home screen.

Ready for a bigger board?

Once Tic Tac Toe feels solved, try Connect 4, which takes the same idea to four in a row on a 7 by 6 board with gravity. For longer strategy games against a friend or the computer, play Checkers or Reversi.

Tic-Tac-Toe tips & video

To win tic tac toe, start in a corner: if your opponent answers anywhere except the center, you can force a win by building a fork, a move that makes two lines of two at once. Against a player who never makes a mistake, tic tac toe is always a draw, so winning means setting traps and never losing means knowing the right replies.

How to Win Tic Tac Toe (and Never Lose)

Tic-Tac-Toe FAQ

How do I play Tic Tac Toe with a friend online?

Open the game and choose Play with a friend. You get a private link to send by text, email or any chat app. When your friend opens it, the board appears in their browser and the game starts, with no account or download needed. After the round, press Rematch to keep playing.

Can you beat the computer on Hard?

No. On Hard the computer examines every possible continuation before it moves, so it never makes a mistake and never loses. The best you can do is a draw, which you will get every time if you follow the correct replies. To practice winning, switch to Medium, where it sometimes plays a random square.

What is the best first move in Tic Tac Toe?

A corner. It is as safe as the center but gives your opponent more chances to go wrong: if O answers with anything other than the center, X can force a win. The center is also a sound start. An edge opening is the weakest, although it still cannot lose with correct play.

Is Tic Tac Toe always a draw?

With perfect play from both players, yes. The game was fully worked out long ago, and every opening move leads to a draw if neither side makes a mistake. That is why games are only won when one player misses a block or walks into a fork.

Who goes first in Tic Tac Toe?

X always moves first. When you play the computer, you are X, so you get the first move every game. In online games the first player is chosen at random and plays X, so both players get to open about equally often over a series of rematches.

Is Tic Tac Toe the same as noughts and crosses?

Yes. Noughts and crosses is the British name for the same game, played on a 3x3 grid with X and O. Other names include Xs and Os. The rules do not change: three in a row wins, and a full board without a line is a draw.

Is Tic Tac Toe good for teaching kids strategy?

It is a great first strategy game. Children learn to take turns, check for threats and think one move ahead. Start on Easy, where the computer plays random squares, then try Medium. When a child can draw the unbeatable level every time, Connect 4 is a natural next step.

Tic Tac Toe Online