Fading Tic Tac Toe
Three stones each. Your oldest sinks away. Best of 5 rounds.
Fading Tic Tac Toe is a two-player variant of tic tac toe where you can hold only three stones, so placing a fourth sinks your oldest. Make three in a row to win the round, so no board ever stays full.
Plain tic tac toe ends in a draw once you know it; here nothing stays put. You can only hold three stones, so every placement after your third also sinks your oldest, and the tension is the moment you realise your oldest stone is the one blocking your rival.
Also known as Infinite tic tac toe, Disappearing tic tac toe.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- Best of 5 rounds
- Length
- About 1½ to 3 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Fading Tic Tac Toe: quick rules
About 1½ to 3 minutes for best of 5. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Take turns placing a stone in an empty cup.
- 2You can hold only three stones. Your fourth sinks your oldest.
- 3The cracked stone is the one leaving next.
- 4Three in a row wins the round. The loser starts the next one.
- 5No line after 30 stones? The round is replayed.
Fading Tic Tac Toe rules
Setup
- The board is a 3 by 3 slate of cups. Red's stones carry a carved heart and Blue's a carved cross.
- Each player can hold at most 3 stones on the board at once (4 on the 4×4 board).
- Who starts the first round is picked at random, and on a rematch the player who lost starts. After each round, the loser starts the next. A 3-2-1 countdown starts every round.
Turns and fading
- Take turns placing one stone in an empty cup.
- Once you already have 3 stones down, placing a new one sinks your oldest stone in the same move. You can't place into the cup of the stone that's about to leave, and you can't skip a turn.
- Once you hold the maximum, your oldest stone is shown cracked, so both players can see which one goes next.
- In each move, the oldest stone leaves first, then the new stone lands, then lines are checked. A stone that has just sunk never counts toward a line.
Winning
- Three in a row, column or diagonal wins the round. On the 4×4 board you need four in a row.
- The match is best of 3, 5 or 7 rounds and ends as soon as one player has a majority.
Ties and replays
- If 30 stones are placed with no line (40 on 4×4), counting both players, the round is replayed: it doesn't count, and the other player starts.
- A match never ends drawn.
Hints against the bot
- Playing the bot, you can spend 20 coins on your turn for a hint. It rings the best cup for 2 seconds, without placing a stone.
- There are no hints against a friend, online or in a tournament.
Boards
- Classic (3×3)
- Nine cups, three stones each, three in a row wins. The default.
- Four in a row (4×4)
- Sixteen cups, four stones each, four in a row wins.
Tips to win at Fading Tic Tac Toe
- 1Once you hold three stones, your line has to be your two newest stones plus the one you place, because placing sinks your oldest.
- 2Watch the cracked stone on both sides: when your rival's oldest sinks, a block can vanish and a cup opens up.
- 3Don't rely on your oldest stone to block a line; it leaves on your next turn.
- 4Open in a corner or the centre, where a stone sits on the most lines.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Tap an empty cup on your turn; the stone is placed when you lift your finger in the same cup.
- Tapping a stone just shakes it; nothing is lost and the turn doesn't change.
- The board ignores taps for a moment after each placement, so a double tap can't play for the next player.
- Either player can touch the board in friend play; only the mover's taps count.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Classic (3×3) (default)Four in a row (4×4) | The board size and how many stones each player keeps. |
| Rounds | Best of 3Best of 5 (default)Best of 7 | How many rounds decide the match. |
| Fade | Cracks shown (default)Hidden fade | Extra. With Hidden fade there are no cracks, so you must remember which stone is oldest. |
| Anchor stone | Off (default)Once a match | Extra. Once per match each, anchor the stone you're placing: it never fades for the rest of that round. |
| Streak flame | Two in a row (default)Off | Extra. Win two rounds in a row and a flame sits on your stone tray until you lose one. No effect on the rules. |
Play Fading Tic Tac Toe against the bot
The bot plays Blue and sees only the board and the order the stones were placed, which both players can see. It looks ahead several moves, knowing which stones are about to leave, and thinks for a moment before each placement.
Easy
Looks only a move or two ahead and places at random more often than not. With Hidden fade on it loses track of its older stones.
Normal
Looks a few moves ahead and opens in a corner or the centre, with the odd random placement.
Hard
Looks deep into the round, opens in a corner or the centre and rarely slips. With Anchor on, it anchors whenever that leaves it one stone short of a line.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- PlannedOnline play for Fading Tic Tac Toe is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always the 3×3 board, best of 5, with extras at their defaults, and hints are off.
- Hints
- Stuck against the bot? A hint lights up the strongest move for a few coins. Never with a friend, online or in a tournament.
Coming soon
- Online play. Play Fading Tic Tac Toe against a friend online, with a turn timer and reconnect. Planned, not available yet.
How it feels
- A stone-on-slate clack as each stone drops in, and a soft grind and a puff of dust as the oldest sinks.
- A chalk scrape and a jingle as the winning line is chalked and the rest of the board dims.
- A whoosh as a streak flame lights.
Accessibility
- Colour is never the only cue: hearts and crosses mark the stones, and the leaving stone is drawn cracked.
- One finger and one tap a move, with very large cups.
- There is no clock on a turn when you play on one phone or against the bot.
Fading Tic Tac Toe questions
Take turns placing stones like tic tac toe, but you can only keep three on the board. Your fourth stone sinks your oldest one, and three in a row wins the round.
Rarely. A round with no line after 30 stones is replayed and doesn't count, so a match never ends drawn.
Yes. The bot plays on Easy, Normal or Hard, and you can buy a hint with coins on your turn.
The first round's starter is picked at random. After that, whoever lost the last round starts the next one.
Yes. Fading Tic Tac Toe in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Not yet. Online play for Fading Tic Tac Toe is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
Play Fading Tic Tac Toe on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
