3D Tic Tac Toe (Stacking Version)
3D Tic Tac Toe (Stacking Version) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
Playing board. The game board is rectangular, with a flat bottom adapted to be placed upon a table or other support, arcuated sides, and a top, flat, playing field characterized by a plurality of preferably cylindrical holes or sockets drilled therein in a predetermined pattern arrangement. As illustrated, there are nine holes in a square formation, having three uniformly spaced holes on each side and one centered in the middle. Each hole is aligned with one or more others, longitudinally, transversely and diagonally, so that eight different straight lines each connecting three holes may be drawn.
Pawns. Also provided are a number of bodies or pawns, preferably of spherical shape and differentiated by color, numbers or other indicia. Each pawn has an outwardly extending, cylindrical shank and an oppositely located cylindrical socket similar to those of the board. The several pawn shanks are adapted to fit snugly into any one of the corresponding sockets in the playing board or in those in other pawns to form vertical piles.
Number of pawns. Generally three pawns are provided for each hole, or a total of 28 for a 9 hole board, so as to be divided evenly into two sets distinguished by white and red, or other contrasting colors.
Editor's note on the pawn count: the patent prints "a total of 28 for a 9 hole board." Three pawns for each of nine holes is 27, not 28. The printed figure is transcribed as printed; the patent does not say how the 28th pawn is used.
Stacking and removal. The sockets in the board, and in the pawns, serve a dual purpose: the pawns are held in alignment so that scores can be readily seen, and the player is required to plan strategy in advance in order to win. The spherical body of each pawn is abuttable against the bodies of other pawns when they are stacked. To disassemble a stack, a player can wedge his fingertips into opposite sides of the inwardly tapering space between adjacent pawn bodies and force the bodies apart, even though the shank portions fit closely in the sockets. The spherical body of each pawn also makes it easier to pick a pawn up manually from a socket of the game board when it is seated there.
Pawn construction. The pawn bodies are preferably spherical or cylindrical in shape so they can be turned on an automatic lathe. A spherical shape is also preferred because this form can be plastic-coated to a fine finish in an automatic tumbler or centrifugal type enameling machine.
Playing the Game (Three-Dimensional Tick-Tack-Toe)
The patent gives the stacking game's basic procedure as follows: "By the simplest procedure, whenever, by alternate moves a player gets three of his pawns aligned in a horizontal row he gets a point."
- Play proceeds by alternate moves between the players.
- Pawns may be selectively attached either to the playing board or to each other, so that they may be aligned in longitudinal, transverse or diagonal patterns across the board, as well as being stacked vertically in such alignment.
- "It is impossible to play upper positions until lower ones are played, because the pawns must be stacked one upon the other."
Scoring (Three-Dimensional Tick-Tack-Toe)
- Whenever, by alternate moves, a player gets three of his pawns aligned in a horizontal row, he gets a point.
- "Additional scoring may be made by vertically staggered alignment as illustrated in Figure 2." The patent's Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the board and pawns, partly in section. The figure is not reproduced in this text, and the patent does not describe in words which vertically staggered alignments score or how many points they are worth.
Optional Restriction
"Again, a player may be restricted to placing his pawns only in open holes or on his opponent's pawns but not on his own."
Variations
"Many other games may be developed with my pawns and playing board which need not be detailed here, but one is provided by way of example." The example the patent details is the game "Dog-Eat-Dog," transcribed in the final section below. It is a different game from the stacking game above.
Not Stated in the Source
The patent does not state the following. They are left out rather than supplied from memory or from other sources:
- Who plays first, or how the first move is decided in the stacking game.
- How many points end the game, or how the winner is decided in the stacking game. The "highest score wins" statement appears only in the Dog-Eat-Dog section.
- The number of pawns each player receives in the stacking game, beyond the statement that the pawns are divided evenly into two color sets.
- Which vertically staggered alignments score, and how many points each one is worth (see the Figure 2 note above).
- Whether a stack's top pawn belongs to a particular player, or how a player who places on an opponent's pawn is scored.
- The rules for a "double," "triple," or "quadruple" play in the stacking game. The patent mentions these only in the Dog-Eat-Dog section.
Pawn Claim (Patent Claim 1)
In a tick-tack-toe game, a pawn comprising a spherical body provided with a socket of circular cross section directed radially of the body to a depth exceeding the radius thereof, and a stem of circular cross section projecting from said body in alignment with the axis of the socket, said stem being of such diameter as to frictionally fit into the socket of another similar pawn and into sockets of a board so that a multiplicity of the pawns can be detachably assembled in closely engaged alignment.
Other Game in the Patent: Dog-Eat-Dog
The patent gives this game as an example of what can be played with the pawns and board. It is not the stacking game above.
In playing "Dog-Eat-Dog" either player chooses a color and with eyes closed selects three pawns from a pawn supply box containing fourteen red and fourteen white pawns. If two or more of the three are his color he gets first play; otherwise first play goes to his opponent.
Each player in turn sets a pawn of his color on the board, but play is permitted only in open holes or on top of opponent's pawns.
Three of the same color in line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally count one point each. Double, triple and quadruple plays are possible, and full score must be claimed when played, or else opponent can claim it. Highest score wins.
The game just described places a premium on planned strategy. Since the pawns are always played "three high," this means that the player placing the lowest pawn will have to place the highest pawn also. This may or may not be to his advantage. For example, the best position on the board is second pawn in the middle hole, because this permits scoring on any one of eight diagonal plays. But this position is of no value whatever unless the player can place the first pawns in two opposite corners or in two opposite middle holes at the side. Furthermore neither player can place the second pawn in the middle hole until his opponent has placed the first pawn. While one player is striving to make diagonal plays his opponent may beat him with horizontal scores. Scoreless games are possible, also, games in which one player wins all points, his opponent winning nothing. The final outcome of each game is determined in the first few moves.