Tic Tac Toe Hacks
How to never lose again, and win most games against real people.
1. Not all squares are equal
Each number is how many winning lines pass through that square.
- Centre (4 lines) is the busiest square on the board.
- Corners (3 lines) are the best place to start. They set up the most traps.
- Edges (2 lines) are the weakest. Avoid them early unless you're blocking.
2. The secret weapon: the fork
A fork is a move that creates two threats at once. Here X has just played bottom-left, so X can now win in either circled square.
O can only block one of them, so X wins next turn. Every trick on this page builds towards a fork.
3. The playbook, move by move
Pick a situation, then step through it. Circles show where the player who just moved could win next.
Going first (you're X)
Going second (you're O)
YouX · move 1 of 7
Start in a corner. Against real people it's the strongest opening.
4. The 8 golden rules
Every turn, go down this list and play the first rule that applies. Follow it and you can't lose.
- Win. If you have two in a row, finish it.
- Block. If they have two in a row, block it.
- Fork. Make a move that creates two threats at once.
- Stop their fork. If they could fork next turn, block it, or force them to block you instead.
- Centre. Take the centre if it's free.
- Opposite corner. If they're in a corner, take the one across from it.
- Corner. Take any free corner.
- Edge. Only then take an edge.
5. Practice
Try the traps on the computer. Hints colour every empty square by where it leads if both sides play perfectly from there.
Your turn. Green squares win, yellow draw, red lose.
Wins 0Draws 0Losses 0
Human-ish makes a random move about 30% of the time, like a real opponent. Use the traps to beat it.
Cheat sheet
- Going first? Start in a corner. If they don't answer in the centre, you can force a win.
- They took the centre? Take the opposite corner. If they then take a corner, you win.
- Going second, they took a corner? You must take the centre. If they take the opposite corner, answer with an edge.
- Going second, they took the centre? Take a corner. Never an edge.
- Always: win if you can, block if you must, and look for the fork.