Super Tris Tic Tac Toe vs Computer: Win or Draw Guide

Description

Super Tris is tic tac toe vs computer on a 3×3 grid, with Easy, Medium and Hard opponents and a scoreboard for your results. The game is solved: with correct play from both sides it ends in a draw, so each result comes down to who makes the first slip. A full board with no line of three counts as a draw, and the scoreboard keeps track of your results. This guide covers what to do in the first two moves, since that is where most games are decided.

If you move first

Open in a corner. The centre is the safer start if you only want to avoid losing, but a corner gives the computer more ways to go wrong. The computer then has eight possible replies, and only one of them, the centre, avoids losing by force. Everything else lets you build a winning position.

• It takes the centre: play the corner opposite your first mark. The computer must now block on an edge; if it blocks anywhere else, you get a fork.
• It takes any other square: you can force a win. Look for a second mark that creates two threats at once.

A fork is a move that makes two lines of two at the same time. The computer can only block one of them, so the other completes. Two corners on one side with the square between them empty is the classic setup.

If the computer moves first

Your reply depends on its opening mark, and one answer covers most cases.

• Corner opening: take the centre. A corner or edge reply here can lose by force.
• Centre opening: take a corner. An edge reply loses.
• Edge opening: take the centre, then block carefully.

After that, check every turn for a line of two on the board before you think about your own plans. Blocking first costs nothing, while a missed block ends the game.

The one trap that costs draws

If the computer holds two opposite corners and you hold the centre, do not play a third corner. Play an edge. A corner there hands it a fork, and an edge forces it to respond to your threat instead. This single rule separates a draw from a loss in the most common losing line.

What to aim for on each level

Harder levels unlock as you win, so the ladder gives you a reason to learn forks before you face a stronger opponent. On Easy, aim to win and practise setting up forks. On Medium, aim not to lose, and look for threats before you attack. On Hard, treat a draw as a good result, because tic tac toe leaves no room for a forced win against sound defence. The game is deliberately simple: one grid, no timer, no move limit beyond the nine squares.

If you want a game where draws are rare, try Turkish Draughts, which has forced captures and longer plans. Other titles are in board games, and Square Sort Mania suits a quick puzzle break.