For instance, consider the following board state included in the above calculation: However, this is an upper bound, as not all of these states are valid. Moves so far, which implies that there are Now, let's explore the feasibility of this approach by calculating the total number of possible board states. To represent this information in a hash map, we can use a key representing the board state, such as '.o.x.x.o', and the corresponding value representing the best position to play, in this case, 3.ĭetermining the best move for each board state can even be analyzed manually. For instance, in the following scenario, the best move for X is to play at position 3, thereby blocking O from winning in the next move.

One approach is to store the states in a lookup table or a hash map, where each state is associated with the optimal move for the player. Tic-tac-toe is a relatively simple game, and it is feasible to enumerate all possible board states. Its purpose is to provide insights into the scale of the problem. This section is not essential for understanding the main subject of this article, which focuses on constructing the AI player. This is an example situation where X is about to win, regardless of O's move on their current turn. A fork occurs when a player reaches a board state where they can create three-in-a-row in two different ways on their next move, making it impossible for the opponent to defend. However, when players are not flawless, the one with the best chances of winning is the player capable of creating a fork. In a game played perfectly by both players, it results in a draw. Although the starting symbol is irrelevant for the algorithm, for the sake of this article, we will assume that X always makes the first move. The center cell is denoted as 4, the corner cells are 0, 2, 6, and 8, and the edge cells are 1, 3, 5, and 7. The grid consists of 9 cells, each assigned a numbered position as follows: Let's begin by introducing some notation that will be used throughout the article. While there are numerous online sources that cover this topic, I aim to offer an uncommon approach by developing an algorithm for the AI player that closely mimics human thinking.

Make your own tic tac toe ai game