Back in school, may be 5th or 6th grade, some smart guy come up with the idea that we should be playing tic tac toe with the movable pieces – why waste paper ? So we drew 3 by 3 grid , and took six small paper chits (3 with X and 3 with O) . You could move the pieces around. (I would like to think that the smart guy was in fact me – but can’t be sure. Anyway I still remember that feeling of “having invented something”).
We have passed many, many hours playing that game in the classroom.
Recently saw the movie “War Games” – that reminded me of our game and so we went out of our “usual business” to actually implement it on iPhone. The result is Star Tic Tac Toe 1.0. It was fun little side project.
A new twist on age old game.
So what are the new rules of the game ? We play it with checker like pieces that you can move. This adds dynamism, second it has special pieces marked with stars. And the stars can be swapped adding another layer of stealth and suprize.
War Games and Winnability
As a kid I was pretty impressed with That Scene from war games. Later when I learned a little bit about Game Theory it even impressed me more.
While implementing it we realized that may be our star tic tac toe could actually be mathematically winnable. Now that is another side project to somehow prove that it is NOT like tic tac toe and indeed someone can win at such games. With movable pieces the strategic placement actually becomes quite important.
The world with MAD strategy may be a draw. But with limited “capacity” and “moving pieces” may be it is not. The coincidence that we use STAR to complicate the game and the “Strategic Arms Reduction” has the same initials, gives my tiny techie brain a virtual high.
Game theory is a fascinating subject and at conceptual level I got hooked on to it the first time I saw it. It really explains so many things…
Challenge Yourself : Can you beat the opponent in 4 moves ?
Right now the “AI” in the game is tough enough that it will kick your butt. It will seriously give you a hard time. Unless you are really careful you WILL loose in under 5 moves. But I know that you can also beat the AI in 4 moves. But can you ? You think it is easy ? Prove it. (don’t just say I did it. Post a youtube video of you actually winning it in 4 moves.)
All we can say is – There no hidden paths or “handicaps” in the game. (And those who understand the “tech speak” -the game’s logic is stateless.)
And yes – my maths is little rusty so if you can point me in the direction of good introduction to games theory that would be awesome. I would really like to give a serious and honest try to proving that star tic tac toe is a “winnable” game. And if you already have the proof then that is even better!!
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