Tic Tac Toe variants: 4×4, Ultimate, Misère and more
Once two players know the strategy, standard Tic Tac Toe is always a draw. These variants keep the same simple idea and make it hard again.
Every variant below can be played with pencil and paper. We've included the rules, what makes each one interesting, and, where it's known, who wins with perfect play.
1. Ultimate Tic Tac Toe
The most popular variant by far. The board is a large 3 × 3 grid where each square holds its own small game of Tic Tac Toe: nine small boards in total.
- Win a small board by getting three in a row on it, and it counts as your mark on the big board.
- Get three small boards in a row on the big board to win the game.
- The twist: the square you play in a small board decides which small board your opponent must play in next. Play in the top-right square of a small board, and your opponent must move in the top-right small board.
- If you're sent to a board that's already won or full, you may usually play anywhere. Players agree this rule before they start, as there are several versions.
Every move is now a trade-off between the board you're on and where you're sending your opponent. It has deep strategy and no simple solution that people can memorise.
2. Misère Tic Tac Toe
Same board, reversed goal: if you make three in a row, you lose. It sounds easy, but it turns your instincts upside down. With perfect play it's still a draw, and the first player has an elegant way to make sure they never lose. Take the centre first, then always play the square directly opposite your opponent's last move, mirrored through the centre.
3. Bigger boards: 4 × 4 and beyond
Play on a 4 × 4 grid and you need four in a row. That gives ten winning lines instead of eight, and many more ways for the game to go wrong. With perfect play it's still a draw, but it's much harder to play perfectly. Some families prefer 4 × 4 with three in a row to win. In that version the first player can force a win quite easily, so it works best as a game for young children.
4. Five in a row (Gomoku)
On a large grid, traditionally 15 × 15 squares, players race to get five in a row. On graph paper it's a classic classroom game. Without extra rules, the first player has a proven winning strategy, so serious players use opening rules to balance it. Casually, alternate who goes first and it's great fun.
5. 3D Tic Tac Toe and Qubic
A 3 × 3 × 3 cube is too easy: the first player takes the centre of the cube and wins quickly. The 4 × 4 × 4 version, sold for years as Qubic, has 76 winning lines and is genuinely difficult. It was proven to be a first-player win in 1980, but the winning strategy is far too complex to memorise. On paper, draw four 4 × 4 grids side by side, one for each layer.
6. Number Tic Tac Toe
Invented by the mathematician Ronald Graham. The board is the usual 3 × 3, but instead of X and O, one player uses the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and the other the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8. Each number can be used once. The first player to complete a line of three numbers (with any marks on it) adding up to 15 wins. Suddenly every line belongs to both players at once. With perfect play the first player wins.
7. Pick 15: Tic Tac Toe in disguise
This one is a mathematical party trick. Lay out the numbers 1 to 9. Players take turns choosing a number, which is then gone. The first player to hold any three numbers adding up to 15 wins. It feels like an arithmetic game, but it's exactly Tic Tac Toe. Arrange the numbers in a magic square, where every row, column and diagonal adds up to 15:
Choosing a number is the same as marking its square, and three numbers summing to 15 are exactly the eight lines of the board. If you know Tic Tac Toe strategy, you're secretly an expert at Pick 15, and you'll always at least draw.
8. Notakto
Both players play X, and whoever completes a line of three Xs loses. You can play on one board or several at once, where a board with a line is "dead" and the player who kills the last board loses. With several boards, it becomes a deep combinatorial game studied by mathematicians.
Which one should you try?
- Two adults who always draw: Ultimate Tic Tac Toe.
- A quick change of pace: Misère. Everyone gets confused for the first few games.
- On a long trip with graph paper: five in a row.
- Showing off: Pick 15, then reveal the magic square.
And when you want the original, a phone makes it quick to play anywhere. To understand why the classic game always ends level, read why Tic Tac Toe is always a draw.