[018] Making Games Every Day for a Month, Day 6 of 31: Martian Tic-Tac-Toe

"Today we live in a world where you may ultimately lose your teaching job to a robot, but you have the opportunity for exploration and expression of topics and people which would have got you burned at the stake a few centuries ago." - Gordon White , The Chaos Protocols

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Yesterday's project is dry, and today's project is a simple one.

You could absolutely make a game set of Martian Tic-Tac-Toe yourself out of any oddments or notions you have laying around. The set I'm making today will be made from stones I found during my sunrise beach trip the other day, during which I also procured my set of Mancala pebbles .

Here's the story of this game: during the first archeological expeditions to Mars, pyramidal game pieces were found in many different locations.

The game was reconstructed by Andrew Looney (yes, that's really his real name), and it is amazing.

The game was called Icehouse and it became extremely popular on this planet too. Andrew Looney's small, plastic, multicolored pyramids were mass-produced and reached a wide audience of game nerds.

Players were inspired by the new game pieces and started making their own games that used the Icehouse pyramids.

Today, they are known as Looney Pyramids, and there are hundreds of completed games to play with them.

Just like a deck of cards, the same pocket-sized set of game pieces can be used for a huge amount of games. Some games are quick and breathless , some games are long and complicated . Martian Tic-Tac-Toe is simple to learn but mind-bending to play.

The game works like this: each player has three pyramids. One small, one medium, and one large.

In my version, I'm using stones. The small stone has a dot, the medium stone has a dot and a ring, and the large stone has a dot with two rings.

The first player places their small stone first. Anywhere on the table. The second player follows, and places their small stone adjacent to the first player's stone. You have to imagine a Tic-Tac-Toe board on the table, but it's only imaginary.

Play continues. Players place their pieces in order: small, medium, large. Here's the twist. After all your pieces are on the table, play begins again with the small piece. You move your small piece to a new, open position on the Tic-Tac-Toe board. As long as the three-by-three imaginary game board is preserved, you can move your pieces to any open spot on that 3x3 board!

Remember, the game has to continue in the same order until someone gets a three-in-a-row. Small, medium, large. So you know what piece your opponent is going to move next! Pretty interesting, and an odd twist on something like Three Man's Morris .

Try it out. It's a fun game, and easy to bring anywhere.

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"[Play] is an all-absorbing, satisfying, and wholesome activity with opportunity for doing, thinking, feeling, and becoming. Its spirit is joyous, yet serious and purposeful. Play's primary contribution is the provision for more abundant living." - Carl A. Troester, Everyday Games for Children (1950)