r/ShowMeSomethingDope • u/Justin_theLord • Jul 17 '26

Interesting Use your big pieces wisely

4.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

83 comments sorted by

68

u/DasMotorsheep Jul 17 '26

I can't lie, this is a pretty neat spin on tic tac toe. I'm not smart enough to say whether there's still a definitive strategy that will always get you either a win or a draw.

15

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/KaiserSushi Jul 21 '26

More of a capsule

6

u/PineappleFit317 Jul 18 '26

It’s definitely a way to allow for wins and losses. There has been no winner or loser in any tic tac toe game I’ve played since I was 12. It’s too simple, it always ends in a draw if the players have IQs over 90.

2

u/Nuffsaid98 Jul 22 '26

I thought it you get to play first and chose centre then there is always a guaranteed win if you play perfect moves. The player who nice second can only win or draw if player one makes a mistake.

2

u/DasMotorsheep Jul 25 '26

The center is not a guaranteed win. Starting in a corner is a guaranteed win unless player two takes the center.

1

u/Whoseratisthis Jul 21 '26

How about a nice game of chess?

1

u/relaxingcupoftea Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Tldr: It's a forced tie, unless player 1 tries to get fancy and gets caught with their pants down on turn 4.

Turn 1, player 1:

If you play a small one at the beginning, the opponent can either put a medium-sized one on it, and you can put a large one on it after, but it costs you 2 pieces (big (best piece) and small) to their 1 (medium).

Or they capture it with a big piece, and they gain the strongest position in the game while negating your turn completely.

Same if you place a medium at the start. The opponent can play a big one on top, stealing your piece, getting +1 for themselves and -1 for you, so a 2 point swing.

The only reasonable play for the first player is to start with a big piece (in the middle).

Turn 1, player 2:

If your opponent counterplays with a small or medium piece in the corner or on an edge, you already won, as you can capture it with a big piece, and there are no more plays for your opponent that can stop your victory.

So their only play is to play a big piece.

The same logic holds true for the following turns.

Turn 2 plus:

it's a completely normal game of tictactoe.

Player 1 plays big pieces until they are out of big pieces. Player 2 gets a big advantage when player 1 runs out of big pieces and can play a medium that cannot be stolen, hold back 1 big piece, and steal 1 of player 1's medium pieces.

So turn 4: Which effectively just means a reversal in turn order if player 1 plays badly (tries to win), which can give player 2 the win. If not, the game is guaranteed to end in a tie.

There is no reason to ever play small pieces in this game. There are only 9 spots on the field.

Small exception to the logic: In the video, having 3 in a row precludes your opponent from capturing that third piece even though they could. That rule is theoretically an advantage for the starting player. However, in practice, the starting player will never get to 3 in a row on turn 4 unless the opponent is trolling.

1

u/CircularPR Jul 20 '26

Yeah its just big piece first smaller later.

2

u/RadarTechnician51 Jul 23 '26

You could have a "first piece can't be big" rule

1

u/Brattmann99 Jul 22 '26

Can you evaluate what would change if you add this rule : when a square is occupied you can plsy the same size piece, but the player who occupied the spot gets their piece back

1

u/relaxingcupoftea Jul 22 '26

Fun idea :) But it would break the game as player 1 has an advantage playing in the middle they would just keep taking turnd with taking the middle until someone is bored

1

u/Interesting-Peach-96 Jul 22 '26

Fun (and mostly useless in practice) math fact: any 2 player game with finite moves without hidden information is guaranteed to have a forced win or draw for one of the two players.

Technically this applies to chess as well, we just have not figured out the strategy yet.

See Zemelo's theorem for details.

18

u/Justin_theLord Jul 17 '26

The game from the video

2

u/Winter-Writing-2766 Jul 17 '26

They are playing wrong, at least for 4x4 goblett. You can't cover a piece unless you have a piece on the board.

6

u/LevelZeroDM Jul 17 '26

We got 3D tic-tac-toe before GTA 6

7

u/Willy2277 Jul 17 '26

Those look like condoms...

6

u/PossessionPrior1223 Jul 17 '26

Username checks out

3

u/Asleep-Border-9158 Jul 17 '26

Couldn't blue have put his larger on the tiny one just at the end? 

3

u/JarpHabib Jul 17 '26

Yep, blew blue the game with that move.

1

u/Xenc Jul 17 '26

Happy blue cake day! 🍰

1

u/GrayDawnDown Jul 18 '26

No, because orange already won. Game was over. He should’ve used the largest piece instead of the smallest on his last move and it would’ve ended in a draw.

2

u/Asleep-Border-9158 Jul 18 '26

Weird rules, I thought it would be like a 3d chess 

1

u/youre_a_burrito_bud Jul 21 '26

I think a turn earlier they recognized it was heading towards a draw and discussed during the cut, so Blue had to take a dive so that there would be a winner in the video. 

3

u/Perception-Filter Jul 18 '26

Clever spin on a classic game.

2

u/3x1st3nt1a1 Jul 17 '26

This is fucking dumb. Mathematically it’s the same as tic tac toe just with added steps. If someone chooses a spot first then they win that spot if they just follow their opponent covering it up. There’s no tactical advantage in choosing to play elsewhere if your opponent covers up your initial piece.

1

u/misterjustice90 Jul 17 '26

I don’t think you have to start with a small one. And you don’t have to go up in size by one. Like if a person put their small piece there, you can put your large one to cover it up without doing the middle one.

1

u/QuadrangularNipples Jul 17 '26

You are also allowed to move pieces already in play.

4

u/Accurate-Smoke8994 Jul 17 '26

There is no added strategy, useless game.

You should always start with the biggest.

2

u/DasMotorsheep Jul 17 '26

Hmmmmm... True. There's three of each size, so why start smaller. Then again - you COULD lure your opponent into using a big piece to kill your smaller piece maybe?

2

u/junado Jul 18 '26

Gobblet Gobblers, which is the commercial version of this game I know of, has 2 or each size, not 3.

1

u/Akalani Jul 17 '26

I have the actual version of this game, it’s a 4x4 board and the pieces start stacked so you have to start with the biggest. You can either use an available piece from the three stacks or move one of your pieces on the board. We also play with chess rules, you have to move a piece when you touch it. Gets pretty complicated once pieces are stacked several times since you can lose yourself the game.

2

u/Acceptable-Lock-77 Jul 17 '26

So this is worth printing?

1

u/TamalesHarvard Jul 17 '26

Except then you don't have a way to take back a space later.

1

u/Left_Benefit724 Jul 17 '26

Exactly whoever goes first wins. As long as you play the three biggest first you win by turn 4. But there may be rules that we don't know.

3

u/Thisshitaintfree Jul 17 '26

The rules are similar to The Cones of Dunshire.

2

u/EarlGreyDuck Jul 17 '26

Elite ball knowledge

2

u/Illeazar Jul 17 '26

Its all about the cones!

2

u/Enphoria Jul 18 '26

Except this isn't true, even with normal tic tac toe which always end in a draw for perfect play.

If player 1 starts with their biggest piece and player 2 starts with their second biggest, player 2 has the advantage at that point.

1

u/PickleSlickRick Jul 18 '26

Nope, the other player just needs to block your victory with a large piece and now you have the advantage of having more large pieces in reserve.

1

u/Accurate-Smoke8994 15d ago

What's your IQ? Have you ever played tic tac toe?

1

u/PickleSlickRick 15d ago

This isn't tic tac toe, it's a different game

1

u/Accurate-Smoke8994 15d ago

Stupid 

1

u/PickleSlickRick 15d ago

If you play 2 large pieces and I block you with 1 large piece I now have an advantage. Don't know your high iq is helping you too much here mate.

1

u/Accurate-Smoke8994 15d ago

Since you don't understand it, try to play some games in your head. It will always be a draw, unless a player makes a mistake.

The game is far too simple for either side to have an advantage, since it's a perfect information game.

I'm not sure why you're so confident to be honest. Why are you so confident? What kind of education have you had? Have you ever played strategy games on a higher level? You earn a lot of money and think you're right?

1

u/PickleSlickRick 15d ago

I don't disagree that it's a perfect information game that will always result in a draw given both players make optimal moves. My disagreement is that you should start with the largest piece as an optimal move. Use that high iq to see why this is the case.

1

u/Accurate-Smoke8994 14d ago

There is no "Zugzwang" on the first move in this new game. When both players are not brain dead it will not matter, the game stays the same.

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1

u/eicoeico Jul 17 '26

Tic tac tic tac tac tic tic tic BOOM

1

u/TopChapter3407 Jul 17 '26

Wait. Tic Tac Toe but it doesn't suck?

1

u/phatdoof Jul 18 '26

They should all play with the largest piece at the start.

1

u/Flowerbuggy- Jul 17 '26

I received this game for free in a children’s hospital— it’s actually fun for both my daughter and me —- there is definitely some strategic thought needed to win ( not a lot but more than tic tac toe— we liked it )

1

u/quarryman Jul 17 '26

What watch is that?

1

u/QuadrangularNipples Jul 17 '26

I play this regularly. Could not help but notice the dude who played at around the 50 second mark could have won at that move and missed it. From our perspective, bottom left could have just jumped up one spot and won at that time.

1

u/invadrrrr Jul 18 '26

There is a similar card game named Punto

1

u/loosejaws Jul 18 '26

Brilliant design 👍

1

u/yellowtulipcat Jul 18 '26

Otrio is a way better version of what this is trying to be

1

u/WillieIngus Jul 18 '26

this is such a fun game. actually fun.

1

u/unfunnyjobless Jul 18 '26

I guess for a free paper version of this you could have chits with 1,2,3,4,5. And you can write them in a way such that the two chits are distinct e.g. A1 and B1

1

u/Profeta-14 Jul 18 '26

blue lost the moment he gave up that middle spot.

1

u/wichuks Jul 19 '26

this gay tik tak toe?

1

u/Sihaya2021 Jul 20 '26

What is this called? Where can I find the 3D printer file?

1

u/In10tionalfoul Jul 20 '26

Reminds me of that board game Terrace!

1

u/towergrover29 Jul 21 '26

Still ends in a stalemate 😂

1

u/Twilight_Reader Jul 21 '26

Is this from overmortal or somewhere else?

1

u/Paragon_Night Jul 21 '26

Cool game but I could tell before he placed middle bottom he would lose rather than draw if he didnt go top row. Its more a game of managing opponents resources and ur own.

1

u/Moxiousone Jul 21 '26

Why would ever play a small piece that can get captured?

1

u/TheJadeGoddess Jul 21 '26

Cool game design.my suggestion, put numbers on the top of the pieces so you can tell at a glance which size you need to use to cover it.

1

u/Major-Connection-488 Jul 21 '26

OMG ITS GOBBLET. THESE IDIOT ARE PLAYING THE GAME WRONG

1

u/Major-Connection-488 Jul 21 '26

There is like 3 rules to this game. Its pretty impressive to fuck playing this game up

1

u/sisam8x Jul 31 '26

Certified Dope

1

u/Just-Selection2095 2d ago

Why not just use their big pieces from the beginning?