You've played Tic Tac Toe. Everyone has. It’s usually over in ten seconds, ends in a draw, and you move on with your life feeling slightly bored. But then someone decided to put a game within a game, and suddenly you're staring at a grid for forty-five minutes wondering where it all went wrong. Most people call it Ultimate Tic Tac Toe, but if you’re looking for tic tac tic tac toe, you’re likely hunting for that specific, recursive nightmare that turns a "kids' game" into a brutal tactical battle.
It’s basically inception for board games.
Instead of one 3x3 grid, you have nine mini-grids tucked inside a giant one. It sounds simple until you realize that your move in a tiny corner sends your opponent to a completely different part of the board. You aren't just playing for one square; you're playing for the right to control where the next fight happens. Honestly, it’s one of the most underrated strategy games ever created.
How tic tac tic tac toe Actually Works
Most people mess this up on their first try. They think they can just play anywhere. Nope.
Here is the logic: The large board is composed of nine small 3x3 grids. When you make a move in a specific square of a small grid, your opponent is forced to play in the corresponding large square. If you click the top-right square of the bottom-left mini-grid, your friend has to play somewhere in the top-right mini-grid of the overall board.
This creates a weird, tethered relationship between your immediate goal—winning a small 3x3 section—and your long-term survival. Sometimes you have to give up a small win because sending your opponent to a certain area of the board is basically handing them the entire game. It’s stressful.
Winning a small grid gets you a big X or O on the main board. Get three big marks in a row, and you’re the champion. But wait. What happens if you get sent to a mini-grid that’s already been won? Or one that’s a tie? Different house rules exist, but the standard competitive rule is that if you're sent to a "dead" or completed square, you get a "wildcard"—you can play anywhere on the entire board. That’s usually when the game ends, because a wildcard move is basically a tactical nuke.
Why This Version Is Better Than the Original
The original Tic Tac Toe is "solved." That’s a fancy way for game theorists to say that if both people know what they’re doing, the game will always end in a draw. It’s mathematically impossible to win against a perfect player. Boring.
Tic tac tic tac toe fixes this. Because the board state is so complex, humans can't easily calculate every possible outcome. It introduces what experts call "emergent complexity." You start with simple rules, but the interaction of those rules creates a game that feels more like Chess or Go than a doodle in a notebook.
Ben Orlin, a math teacher and author of Math with Bad Drawings, famously popularized this version online. He noted that while the classic game is a "solved" loop of boredom, the recursive version demands "global strategy." You might intentionally lose a small square just to trap your opponent in a corner where they can't do any damage. It's mean. It's brilliant.
The Problem With Draws
In the standard game, draws are the default. In the recursive version, draws are incredibly rare. Because the "wildcard" rule exists, the game usually accelerates toward a finish once the board gets crowded. You’re forced to make concessions.
Actually, the psychological aspect is what gets people. You spend five minutes setting up a perfect trap in the center grid, only for your opponent to realize they can just keep sending you to the bottom-right corner where you have no moves. It feels less like a game of luck and more like a slow-motion wrestling match.
Strategies That Actually Work (And Some That Don't)
Don't just chase the small wins. That is the number one mistake beginners make.
If you focus purely on winning a single 3x3 grid, you’re playing "local" strategy. Your opponent will notice this and use your moves to send you wherever they want. Instead, you need to look at the "Macro Board."
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- The Center is Bait: Everyone wants the center square of the big board. It’s intuitive. But if you take the center of a small grid, you send your opponent to the center of the big board. You’re basically giving them the high ground. Sometimes it's better to avoid the center squares of the mini-grids early on.
- The Wildcard Trap: Toward the end of the game, try to force your opponent to send you to a grid that is already full. This gives you the freedom to move anywhere. It’s the ultimate power play.
- Forced Moves: If you see your opponent is one move away from winning a big square, don't just block them locally if you can avoid it. Try to send them to a square where they have no good moves, even if it means letting them have that one small victory.
The Mathematical Rabbit Hole
Let’s talk numbers for a second, but nothing too crazy.
A standard Tic Tac Toe game has 255,168 possible games. That sounds like a lot, but for a computer, it’s nothing. Tic tac tic tac toe, on the other hand, has a state-space complexity that is significantly higher. While it hasn't been "solved" in the same way, researchers have used AI to analyze it.
The number of possible legal positions is astronomical. Because each move dictates the next player's available board, the "branching factor"—the number of possible moves at any given turn—fluctuates wildly. This makes it a great playground for programmers practicing Monte Carlo Tree Search algorithms. But for us humans? It just means we have to rely on intuition and a little bit of spite.
Real-World Variations You Might See
You might see this game called different things depending on where you are on the internet.
- Ultimate Tic Tac Toe: The most common name.
- Strategic Tic Tac Toe: Often used in academic or coding circles.
- Meta Tic Tac Toe: Usually refers to the same thing, though some people add even more layers (grids within grids within grids), which is just masochism.
- Tic Tac Tic Tac Toe: The repetitive name usually refers to the recursive nature of the game.
Some people play with a "passing" rule, but that usually breaks the game balance. Stick to the "Wildcard" rule if you want the best experience. If a move sends you to a completed square, you pick any open square on the entire board. This keeps the game fast and prevents endless loops of nothingness.
Is It Actually Educational?
Kinda, yeah.
Teachers love this game because it teaches kids about "nested logic." It’s the same principle as nested loops in coding or parentheses in algebra. You have to solve the "inner" problem while keeping the "outer" problem in mind.
It also helps with spatial reasoning. You aren't just looking at X's and O's; you're looking at patterns of patterns. It’s a great way to burn twenty minutes in a classroom or a coffee shop without needing anything more than a piece of paper and two different colored pens. Actually, use different colors. If you use the same pen for everything, the board becomes an unreadable mess of ink within ten moves. Trust me.
Setting Up Your First Serious Game
If you're going to play tic tac tic tac toe, do it right. Get a big sheet of paper. Draw the big 3x3 grid first with thick lines. Then, inside each of those nine squares, draw a smaller 3x3 grid with thinner lines.
Decide on the "sending" rule before you start. If I play in the middle-left of a small square, you must play in the middle-left large square. If that square is already won? You go anywhere.
Don't rush. The first few moves feel inconsequential, but they are the most important. They set the "momentum" of the game. If you start by sending your opponent to the corners, you’re playing a defensive game. If you send them to the center, you’re looking for a brawl.
Honestly, the best part of the game is the moment of realization. That "oh no" second where your friend realizes that by winning a tiny square in the corner, they've just allowed you to take the center of the big board and win the whole thing. It’s a level of salt you just don't get from the regular version.
Actionable Next Steps
- Grab a friend and a piece of paper: Don't try to play this on a phone first. The physical act of drawing the grids helps you visualize the "sending" mechanic better.
- Focus on the "Wildcard": Your primary goal in the mid-game should be trying to get sent to a finished square. It’s the easiest way to break a stalemate.
- Think two steps ahead: Every time you place a mark, ask yourself: "Where am I sending them?" If the answer is "to a square where they can win," don't do it.
- Check out Ben Orlin’s work: If you want to see the math visualized, his blog is the gold standard for why this game is actually a masterpiece of design.
- Experiment with "Tie" rules: Decide now if a tied mini-grid counts for neither player or both. Most competitive players say it counts for neither, which makes the big board even harder to win.
The game is deep, it's frustrating, and it's infinitely better than the version you played in third grade. Stop playing the solved version and start playing the one that actually requires a brain. You'll probably lose your first few games, but once you "see" the board, you'll never go back.