Tic Tac Toe 2 Player: Play With a Friend on One Screen

Tic tac toe was made for two people and a scrap of paper, and this version keeps it that way: one screen, two players, and nothing to install. Press Play above and the board opens in 2-player mode, so you can start a round right away with a friend, a child or whoever is sitting next to you.

How to play with two players

Player X taps a square, then hands the phone over, or just lets the other person reach across the laptop. Player O taps a square, and you keep taking turns. The first player to get three marks in a row, across, down or diagonally, wins the round. If all nine squares fill up with no line, it is a draw. Press Next round to play again.

• The first move switches every round. X starts round one, O starts round two, and so on, so nobody keeps the advantage of going first.
• The scoreboard keeps count. Wins for X, wins for O and draws are tallied at the top, with the player whose turn it is highlighted.
• Keyboard works too. The arrow keys move between squares and the number keys 1 to 9 play a square directly, counting from the top left.

Make it a contest

A single round of tic tac toe is over in seconds, so play a match instead: first to five wins, or the best of nine rounds. When both players know the basics, most rounds end in a draw, and the player who spots a fork first takes the match. Our guide on how to win tic tac toe explains the corner opening and the fork in plain terms, so it is a fair way for a newer player to catch up.

When tic tac toe gets too easy

If every round ends in a draw, try Ultimate Tic Tac Toe, where each square holds a whole board of its own, or a classic like Dots and Boxes or Checkers. All of them have a 2 Players mode on the same screen.