Tic-Tac-Toe 2.0: New Takes on an Old Classic

The game of Tic-Tac-Toe has roots going back centuries. Grid-style game boards have been found in Ancient Egypt, during the Roman Empire, and in our current age on restaurant placemats. Multiple avenues of exploration are possible with this simple children’s game.  A related game called “Gobblet Gobblers” takes Tic-Tac-Toe to a whole new level!

Gobblet Gobblers is a variation on Tic-Tac-Toe. As in Tic-Tac-Toe, the object of the game is to line up three of your pieces, but a player may place any gobbler on the board in an empty space or over a smaller gobbler, or move any gobbler already on the board to an empty space or over a smaller gobbler. Creating a decision tree for the game is a rich and interesting activity that promotes investigation.