TicTactics
TicTactics is a tic-tac-toe game developed by Robert Donner and published by Microsoft in their Microsoft Entertainment Pack For Windows for Windows 3 in 1990. In addition to traditional 3x3 tic-tac-toe, the game includes 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 boards.
This was pre-loaded on my family's Packard Bell 386SX computer, and I played it a little in 1991. At 11-years-old, I could always beat or tie the AI in the 3x3 mode at any difficulty, but I was rarely able to beat the AI on 3x3x3 or 4x4x4, even on beginner difficulty, so I didn't play it much. Years later, in 2018, I tried again and was finally able to beat the AI on expert mode on the 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 boards, provided I got first move.
All three of the games have a guaranteed victory strategy for the first player, but the 4x4x4 is so complex, few humans can memorize it, and, at any rate, the AI doesn't implement it.
Status
I do not own this game, but I have beaten the expert AI on all boards, provided I get first move.
Review
- Overall: 1/10
- Best Version: Windows 3
Good
- The game nicely implements the rules of three tic-tac-toe boards.
- The AI features three levels of difficulty.
- The graphics are quite nice for such a simple game.
Bad
- The game is media challenged. There's no music, sound effects, or interesting animation upon victory.
Ugly
- There's just not much to do with the game. You can play tic-tac-toe, and that's it.
- For some reason, the game doesn't even allow you to play against a human player. You must play the AI.
Screenshots
The traditional 3x3 board.
3x3x3 board.
4x4x4 board.
Links
- mobygames.com/game/win3x/microsoft-entertainment-pack-for-windows - MobyGames (Entertainment Pack).
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Entertainment_Pack - Wikipedia (Entertainment Pack).
