Beyond Tic Tac Ten

Beyond Tic Tac Ten is played on a 9x9 grid divided into nine 3x3 grids, as is the fake "Tic Tac Ten" game that inspired it. (This appeared in one of the fake ads in an earlier issue of GAMES.) Players take turns marking an empty space. After the first move, each move must be made in the 3x3 corresponding to the position of the previous move in its 3x3 grid. E.g. if the first move is made in the upper right corner of its 3x3 grid, the second move must be made in the 3x3 grid in the upper right corner of the "board." The first player to get three spaces in a line (a tic-tac-toe) in a single 3x3 grid wins. However, several variants are suggested, including one in which players try to get tic-tac-toes in three grids in a line, and both players can get a tic-tac-toe in the same grid