How to Play Tic Tac Logic

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Tic Tac Logic is a single player puzzle that’s based on the popular two-player game “Tic Tac Toe.”

Tic Tac Logic is played on a grid. Each puzzle starts with some X’s and some O’x in various places on the grid. The goal is to place an X or an O in the remaining squares. The challenge is doing so while meeting all three criteria:

there can be no more than 2 consecutive X’s or O’s in a row or column
each row and column must contain the same number of X’s as it has O’s
all rows and columns must be unique

Tic Tac Logic Tips & Example

It’s time to learn how to play tic tac logic with an example.

The example used will be an 8×8 puzzle. This means each row and each column will contain 4 X’s and 4 O’x.

Let’s get started!

Doubles

The rules state that there cannot be more than 2 consecutive X’s or O’s in a row. That means that anywhere you already have 2 X’s or 2 O’s, there will be the opposite on either side.

In the example, there are 4 double X’s (3 in rows, 1 in columns). Let’s surround all those X’s with some O’s!

Tic Tac Logic Example 3 - blank in between

X blank X or O blank O

Anytime you have a blank in between 2 of the same (X_X or O_O), the blank must be the opposite (so XOX or OXO).

Why? Because you can’t have three of the same in a row!

Keep Checking for Doubles

Every time you put new X’s or O’s into the puzzle, you should check for fresh doubles.

Tic Tac Logic Example 5 - finish rows/columns

Keep an Eye on Rows and Columns

Keep checking your rows and columns for ones that are almost complete.

There will be 4 X’s and 4 O’s per row/column. If you only have one blank, you’ll always know what it is.

In the example, we have one row with a blank and one column with a blank. Both have 4 X’s and 3 O’s so we’ll fill the blanks with O’s.

Got 4?

Sometimes you’ll have more than one blank in a row or column but you’ll already have 4 of a kind.

The example column has 2 blanks but is already filled with 4 X’s. We know the 2 blanks must be O’s.

Tic Tac Logic Example 7 - finish the row

Put It Together

We can use what we know together to finish this row.

There are 2 O’s in a row (in black, 5 and 6 spots), so we have to put in an X (4th spot). This leads us to having 2 X’s in a row now (3 and 4), so we’ll put in an O (spot 2). Our last spot must be an X (because we have 4 O’s already).