Tic-Tac-Toe: play noughts and crosses online free

Yes. Tic-Tac-Toe on Util.Ninja is completely free to play online, with no sign-up, no download and no in-app purchases. It runs in your browser on computers, tablets and phones, and your statistics and badges are saved on your own device.

Two players take turns putting their mark, X or O, in an empty square of a 3 by 3 grid. The first player to get three of their marks in a row, across, down or diagonally, wins. If the grid fills up with no line, the game is a draw. Here you are always X and the rival is always O, and the player who starts alternates every game.

Yes. Noughts and Crosses is the British name for the same traditional paper-and-pencil game, and it is also known as Xs and Os. It is a very old game that nobody owns. This is an independent version made for this site, with its own board, marks and artwork.

A match is five games in a row against the same opponent. You win a game, draw it or lose it, and your five results make the match score: 100 points for every win and 40 for every draw. The starting player alternates, so you move first in games 1, 3 and 5.

Tic-Tac-Toe is a solved game: with perfect play from both sides it is always a draw. Expert plays perfectly on the 3x3 board, so the best you can do against it is draw. Hard plays very well but slips about one move in four, and Easy and Medium make plenty of mistakes you can punish.

The 5x5 board is a bigger game: you need four in a row to win. There is much more room for tricks and double threats, and games are harder to draw. A win or a draw on the big board earns a bonus of 150 points on the leaderboard.

A double threat, also called a fork, is a move that makes two winning lines at once. The opponent can block only one of them, so you win next move. Making one earns the Double Threat badge.

Easy plays mostly random moves and only sometimes sees a win or a block. Medium always takes a win or blocks yours and otherwise plays by feel. Hard thinks ahead but can slip on the 3x3 board. Expert searches the whole game on 3x3 and many moves deep on 5x5. None of them cheats.

Every day everybody plays the same match on the 5x5 board against the Hard computer, and each of the five games starts with two X and two O already on the board, the same for everyone. Come back tomorrow for new openings.

Yes. Choose "Two players, one screen" in the game menu and take turns on the same phone, tablet or computer. X is the first player in game 1 and the starting player alternates.

Yes. The undo button takes back your last move, and the light-bulb button marks a good square with a flashing red dashed ring. Both are just for fun, so use them whenever you are stuck.

Yes. Matches against the computer are ranked on a leaderboard with This month and All time panels, and the daily challenge has its own board. A match scores 100 points for every game won and 40 for every draw, plus a bonus for the level (Easy 0, Medium 100, Hard 250, Expert 450), plus 150 on the 5x5 board. Only matches where you won at least as many games as the computer are ranked. You only choose a nickname, with no sign-up, and you can delete your scores at any time.

Yes. Tic-Tac-Toe works on phones and tablets in portrait and landscape. The first tap on a square shows a preview and the second tap places your mark. On a computer you can click, or use the keyboard: arrow keys and Enter, the number keys 1 to 9 on the 3x3 board, U to undo and H for a hint.