Ultimate Tic-tac-toe

How to play Ultimate Tic-tac-toe

Nine small boards in one, and each move sends your opponent to the next board.

About Ultimate Tic-tac-toe

Ultimate Tic-tac-toe is played on nine 3x3 boards set out in a 3x3 grid.

The cell you mark sends your opponent to the small board in the same position. A board that is won or full sends them nowhere, so they may play in any open board.

Win three small boards in a row on the big grid to win the game. A drawn small board counts for neither player.

Against the computer it is played as a single game.

The goal of Tic-tac-toe

Tic-tac-toe is played by two players, one marking X and the other O, who take turns marking an empty cell. The first to complete a line of their marks wins the game. Here you play against a computer player, a friend on the same device, or another person at an online table.

Against the computer the games make up a short series: the best of five on the 3x3 grid, the best of three on the 5x5 grid, and a single game of Ultimate Tic-tac-toe.

How to set up Tic-tac-toe

Tic-tac-toe is played on an empty 3x3 grid, and Tic-tac-toe 5x5 on an empty 5x5 grid. Ultimate Tic-tac-toe is played on nine 3x3 boards set out in a 3x3 grid of their own.

X always moves first. Who plays X in the first game is drawn by lot, and in each game after that the players swap marks, so each starts in turn.

Tic-tac-toe rules

On your turn you mark one empty cell with your mark. There is no passing, and a mark stays where it is for the rest of the game.

In Tic-tac-toe a line is three marks in a row, across, down or diagonally. In Tic-tac-toe 5x5 a line is four marks in a row in any of those directions.

In Ultimate Tic-tac-toe the cell you mark decides where your opponent plays next: they must play in the small board that sits in the same position on the big grid as your cell does in its own board.

A small board is won by three in a row inside it, and a small board that fills up with no line is drawn. If you are sent to a board that is already won or full, you may play in any board that is still open.

The full Tic-tac-toe guide, with strategy tips and common questions