How to play 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe online
- Move the blinking cursor: arrow keys (left and right move across a board, up and down move through the boards; the cursor wraps around the edges)
- Place your X or O: Space bar
- Choose the game (skill level 1–8, or game 9 for two players): F11 (the console’s Select switch)
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Who moves first: F9 (the right difficulty switch)
- Set-up mode: F4 (the left difficulty switch)
Gameplay
The screen shows the four levels of the cube as four 4×4 grids, 64 squares in all. Players take turns placing markers, and the first to get four in a line wins. A line can run across, down or diagonally on one board, or it can pass through all four boards: straight down through the same square on each level, or diagonally from the top board to the bottom one. The manual counts 76 possible winning lines.
Games 1 to 8 pit you against the computer, and each level makes it look further ahead. On level 1 it answers almost at once. On level 8 it can think for up to 20 minutes over a single move. The program also adds a little randomness to its play, so it does not always choose the best move, which gives a careful human a real chance. Game 9 is for two players, who take turns placing their markers.
Switches
- Right difficulty switch: in a one-player game, A means you move first and B lets the computer start. In a two-player game it decides whether X or O begins.
- Left difficulty switch: in position A you can place markers freely to set up a position on the board; B is normal play.
- Select: changes the game number, even in the middle of a game, as long as the computer is not busy thinking.
Tips
- Take the strong squares. The eight corners of the cube and the eight squares at its centre each lie on more winning lines than the others. They are the squares that make up the long diagonals.
- Watch the lines through all four boards. They are the easiest to miss, because the four squares are spread across the screen.
- Build two threats at once. The opponent can only block one line per move, so set up a move that completes three in a row on two lines at the same time.
- Use set-up mode to practise. Place a position with the left difficulty switch on A, then switch back and see how the computer handles it.
History
The 4×4×4 version of tic-tac-toe was sold as a board game long before the 2600: Parker Brothers marketed it as Qubic from 1964. Atari’s cartridge, model CX-2618, was written by Carol Shaw, who was hired by Atari in 1978 straight after finishing her master’s degree. Sources disagree on its release year, which is given as either 1978 or 1980. Sears also sold the game under its own label, and a version was released for the Atari 8-bit computers. Shaw went on to write Video Checkers for the 2600 and later, at Activision, River Raid.
Similar games to play next
- Video Checkers – Carol Shaw’s other board game for the 2600
- River Raid – Carol Shaw’s best-known game, a scrolling shooter from Activision
- Video Chess – Atari’s chess cartridge, another test of the computer’s thinking
- Othello – a quick strategy board game against the computer or a friend
- Backgammon – Atari’s version of the classic dice-and-counter game