Q&A for How to Play Tic Tac Toe

Simply Google "online tic tac toe" and you'll find multiple options.

Find a friend to play with, or ask a member of your family. If you just use Google and type in "online tic-tac-toe matches" you can face a computer.

Noughts and crosses is the British name for tic tac toe. The games are identical.

It's up to you. There are no real differences concerning symbols in the grids.

You just make a 4x4 box instead of a 3x3 box. Then the same rules apply, only you need to get 4 in a row to win.

No. With both players playing optimally, the result is always a draw.

Yes. Your game assumes that you don't need to place a ninth and final piece, since it will be obvious from the other moves whether or not the last move will create three in a row.

You can alternate who goes first if you like. Other methods include playing rock-paper-scissors, rolling a dice and seeing who gets the higher number, or letting the winner of the last game go first.

The trick to winning tic-tac-toe is to go first, but you can still win if you're second. As the first player, start by placing your piece in any corner. After your opponent moves, place your piece directly across from your first move. When your opponent places their piece between yours to block, place your next piece in the center. This ensures that you'll win regardless of your opponent's next move.

Both app stores contain Tic Tac Toe apps. Just search "tic tac toe" in them.

You can play on paper with a pencil, or use a grid with six X's and O's each.

Yes, you are at a disadvantage going second because you play up to four times, while the first player plays up to five times. However, either player can always force a draw.

No, but starting in the middle is strategically the best move as it offers the most possibilities for winning.

There is a game called Ultimate Tic Tac Toe, which consists of one large tic-tac-toe grid with a smaller tic-tac-toe board in each box. It's more complex and engaging than regular tic-tac-toe.

The player who goes first usually gets more turns. Both players will have the same number of turns only if the second player wins.

See Win at Tic Tac Toe .

The reason is unknown. Although the game in different forms dates back thousands of years, the present name didn't appear until the twentieth century in the US. In Britain it is known as "noughts (zeroes) and crosses."

There's no rule about that. Just alternate: if player A goes first in one game, player B will go first in the next game.

That's a "draw" or a "tie."

No. Just remember it for future reference, and don't do it again.

Yes. Three squares horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

We don't know. It dates back (in various forms) more than 2,000 years.

Neither player would need more than five pieces.