Tic-Tac-Tactics

Nine boards. One rule. Tic-Tac-Tactics is Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe: the version people play once ordinary noughts and crosses has stopped being interesting. HOW IT WORKS The big grid holds nine smaller boards. Win a small board to claim its square in the big one. Claim three in a row and the game is yours. The twist is the whole game: the square you play inside a small board decides which board your opponent must play in next. Play in the top-right square, and they are sent to the top-right board. Every move hands them a position, and takes one away from you. Sent to a board that is already finished? Then you may play anywhere you like. Spotting those free moves, and avoiding giving them away, is most of the skill. WHY IT IS NOT JUST TIC-TAC-TOE Ordinary tic-tac-toe is solved. Two people who know what they are doing draw every single time. This does not. Draws are rare, a better player beats a weaker one consistently, and there is no line you can memorise your way through. A minute to learn, a long time to stop losing. FOUR OPPONENTS Cadet plays quickly and misses things. Pilot punishes the obvious mistakes. Navigator thinks several moves ahead. Admiral does not blunder. Each one unlocks by beating the one below it. ALSO IN THE APP Pass and play on a single device. A short guide that teaches the rule everyone misses first time. The board you must play in is always highlighted, so you never lose track. Crosses and rings are told apart by shape as well as colour. WHAT IT DOES NOT DO No adverts. No sign-in, no account, no profile. Nothing collected, nothing tracked. No internet permission at all, so it works on a plane, in a tunnel, anywhere. Free, and free of the things that usually come with free.