Ultimate Tic Tac Toe
Nine boards in one; your move picks their next board. Win 3 in a row.
Ultimate Tic Tac Toe is a two-player strategy game of nine small Tic Tac Toe boards in one big grid. The cell you pick decides which board your rival plays in next, and you win by taking three boards in a row.
One glowing board shows where to play, and every cell you pick sends your opponent somewhere else, so each move is an attack and a trap at once. Get sent to a finished board and you can play anywhere.
Also known as Super tic tac toe, Meta tic tac toe, Tic tac toe squared, Strategic tic tac toe.
- How you hold it
- Pass and play
- Match
- Win 3 in a row
- Length
- About 4 to 8 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Ultimate Tic Tac Toe: quick rules
About 4 to 8 minutes with a friend, a little less against the bot. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1There are nine small boards; win three in a row to win the game.
- 2The cell you pick decides the board your opponent must play in next.
- 3If you are sent to a finished board, you can play in any open board.
- 4Get three marks in a row inside a board to take it.
- 5If nobody makes three in a row, the most boards wins.
Ultimate Tic Tac Toe rules
Setup and the next board
- The big board is nine small boards of nine cells each. Red plays X and Blue plays O.
- Who moves first is picked at random for a new match. On a rematch the player who lost moves first, and in a tournament it alternates, with Red first in game one.
- The first move can go in any of the 81 cells.
- After that, the cell you play decides the board your opponent plays in next: play the top-right cell of any board and they must play in the top-right board. That board glows and the caption says “Play in the glowing board”.
- If that board is already won or full, they can play in any open board, and every open board glows.
Taking small boards
- Three of your marks in a row, column or diagonal inside a small board takes it, with “Board taken!”. A taken board is closed even if it still has empty cells.
- A small board filled with no line is full and belongs to nobody.
- A placed mark is final. There is no undo.
Winning the game
- Take three small boards in a row, column or diagonal on the big board and you win at once.
- If every board is closed and nobody has three in a row, the player with more boards wins (“Most boards wins”).
- If neither player can make a line any more and the leader can no longer be caught on boards, the game ends early with “No lines left”.
- The score is the boards each player took, such as 3 – 1.
Draws and rematches
- Equal boards and no line is a draw: “Draw — replay!”, then a fresh game with the other player moving first. A draw never counts as a result, and there's no limit on replays.
- On a rematch the boards are cleared and the player who lost moves first.
Tips to win at Ultimate Tic Tac Toe
- 1Before you play a cell, look at the board it sends your opponent to. A great move in your board can hand them a win in theirs.
- 2Avoid sending your opponent to a finished board: it lets them play anywhere they like.
- 3The centre board touches the most lines on the big board, so it is worth more than the corners and edges.
- 4Giving up one small board is fine if it lets you set up two in a row on the big board.
- 5Keep count of boards taken: if nobody makes a line, the player with more boards still wins.
Controls
Upright, handed back and forth. A banner in the mover's colour says whose turn it is.
- Touch a cell in a glowing board. A faded preview of your mark and a magnifier bubble above your finger show exactly which cell you're on.
- Slide to another cell to move the preview, and lift to place the mark.
- Slide off the cells you can play before lifting and nothing is placed. A tap in a dimmed board just shakes the board.
- Pass the phone after each move. Touches are ignored for a moment after every move, so a bump during the handover can't place a mark.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Last move marker | On (default)Off | Puts a small ring on the last mark placed, so you can see what just happened. |
| Bot first | OnOff (default) | In a new match against the bot, the bot makes the first move; rematches still start with the player who lost. |
Play Ultimate Tic Tac Toe against the bot
The bot plays Blue (O). It searches through possible games under the same rules as you, sees nothing you can't, and takes a short think before every move.
Easy
Misses wins and blocks inside a small board, and often sends you to a board that suits you.
Normal
Rarely misses a one-move win or block, and always takes a winning move on the big board.
Hard
Plays sharp tactics and never misses an immediate win, but it isn't perfect and can be out-planned over a long game.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyUltimate Tic Tac Toe plays on one phone; online play is for Tic Tac Toe and 4 in a Row today.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentA tournament game always uses the defaults (Last move marker on, Bot first off), whatever your saved options, the first mover alternates game by game, 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
- Move timer. An optional 15 or 30 second move timer; when it runs out a random legal move is played for you.
- Confirm move. An option where the first lift only selects a cell, and a second tap confirms it.
- Anywhere on a full board. A rule variant some players know, where being sent to a full board works differently.
How it feels
- A wooden tap for X and a soft bell for O, with a squash-and-stretch pop as each mark lands.
- A whoosh as the glow slides to the next board, and a rising chime when you're sent to a finished board and every open board pulses.
- A stamp as a small board is taken: it fills with the winner's colour and one big mark, and the score pill bounces.
- The winning line lights up across the big board, and a soft sigh sounds before a draw is replayed.
Accessibility
- X and O differ by shape as well as colour, and a taken board shows one large mark, so nothing relies on colour alone.
- Boards you can play in glow with a thick ring while the rest dim, and the caption states the rule in words.
- The magnifier bubble and lift-to-place make the small cells easier to hit, with either hand.
- With reduced motion, the glow slide, stamp and shakes become a short fade. A screen reader reads each cell, such as “Board 5, cell 3, empty”, and says where the next player must play.
Ultimate Tic Tac Toe questions
You play on nine small boards at once, and the cell you pick decides which small board your opponent must play in next. Win small boards to claim them, and three boards in a row wins.
If the board you are sent to is already won or full, you can play in any open board.
Only when both players have the same number of boards and nobody has a line. A draw is replayed with the other player moving first, so the match always has a winner.
Yes. Ultimate Tic Tac Toe in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Upright, handed back and forth. A banner in the mover's colour says whose turn it is.
Yes. The bot plays Blue (O). Choose Easy, Normal or Hard.
No. Ultimate Tic Tac Toe plays on one phone; online play is for Tic Tac Toe and 4 in a Row today.
Play Ultimate Tic Tac Toe on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
