Tic Tac Toe is known as the world's most popular game. It's also known as one of its simplest, right?
Wrong! There is nothing simple about Tic Tac Toes enchanting history. People at one point believed Tic Tac Toe was so deep, that it held the secrets to the universe.
1. Tic Tac Toe was Actual Magic:
Ouija board step-a-side there is a new a sheriff in town. Tic Tac Toe...?! It was linked to pagan rituals in the Middle Ages, the game then called Magic Squares, to use its numerological messages to cast spells.
2. The Name "Tic Tac Toe" is Chinese Whispers:
The name Tic Tac Toe should actually be "Tit Tat Toe" which was what it was called in the 16th century. Tit means to slap and Tat is a retaliation (like Tit for Tat) - Toe is for 3 third piece in a row securing the winning combination.
3. Used by Secret Societies
It was used by secret societies who called it "Cabala of the Nine Chambers" and believed the grid could hold secret message about the world. This stemmed from the idea that the numbers 1 - 9 could be arranged on the grid so that their sums were matched up diagonally, vertically, and horizontally.
4. Good Enough for Pharaohs:
Tic Tac Toe purportedly date backs to ancient Egypt or even Mesopotamia - the world's first civilisation. First played on the sand dunes or by the river using stones and shells.
5. Rota to the Romans
The Roman's played a game called Rota - which is just like Tic Tac Toe - except it can never end in a tie. Each player has 3 pieces each and there are 9 spaces you move the pieces around like checkers until one player gets 3-in-a-row.
6. The World's First Ever Video Game
Tic Tac Toe has always been groundbreaking, and the digital frontier is no different. In 1952 the EDSAC computer had an inbuilt game called OXO - a crude version of the tabletop classic, if the truth must be told.
7. What Do You Call It?
It has so many names, but the game remains the same. Noughts and Crosses, XOXO, Xs and Os, Exy-Ozies, Tit Tat Toe or Three Men's Morris?