Topics: Starter | Combinations | Puzzles

• Transum,
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• Another game which is isomorphic (same strategies) to noughts and crosses is the game of Fifteen. The numbers 1 to 9 are written on cards. Players take it in turns to take a card. The first person who can make a total of 15 with the cards they have is the winner.
  If you arrange the nine numbered cards to form a magic square you will see the similarities with noughts and crosses.
  We have invented a game called Trilett. Play it a few times and see if you can work out why it is isomorphic to noughts and crosses.
  
  Here are links to the related interactive activities:
  
  Noughts and Crosses | Fifteen | Trilett
• Miss Mears, Stockport
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• A nice starter - we then extended the idea to the general case of an nxn grid and used some algebra as well.
• Mark, New Zealand
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• Surely there are only three ways that the first cross can be placed: centre, side or corner. In any meaningful analysis of the game the sides are all identical and should not be distinguished.
• Mrs. S. Farragonda, Fernan Elementary, CDA, ID
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• This game is very mental, and fun for both teachers and students! We now do the "secret student" thing with our class laptops. If the secret student is playing and X wins, the class wins. So everybody is motivated to do well.
  
  [Transum: There's no better way to select a 'secret student' than to use the Random Student Generator.]

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