Pocket Games
Strategy
No dice, no cards drawn, no timer: you take turns on a board or a grid, and whoever wins did it with their moves. Every one of these games can be played two ways: against the bot, which has three levels, or with two people on the same phone, passing it over each turn.
The easy level plays at random and is there to learn the rules. From medium up the bot picks its moves with a method, and on hard you need a real strategy to beat it. There is no undo: a move stays where it is.
The starting point is Tic Tac Toe, which is a solved game: the hard bot never loses, and against it the best you can do is a draw. Tic Tac Toe Evolution puts nine games inside one, and the square you play in decides which grid your opponent has to play in next, so a draw is no longer guaranteed. Four in a Row is played on a board of 7 columns by 6 rows, and whoever controls the centre starts with an edge.
For longer games there is Checkers, with Italian rules: capturing is compulsory and a man cannot capture a king. Reversi takes a minute to learn, but having more discs than your opponent in the middle of the game is almost always a disadvantage.
The game in progress is saved after every move. Against the bot, wins, draws and losses are counted level by level.
- CheckersCheckers with the rules of Italian draughts: compulsory and maximum capture, the man that cannot take a king, the non-flying king. With strategy and games against the bot.
- Dots and BoxesHow to play Dots and Boxes and how you actually win: chain parity, sacrificing two boxes, and the double cross that turns a game around.
- Four in a RowHow to play Four in a Row, also known as Connect 4, and how to win: why the centre column decides the game, the double threat, and the odd and even squares rule.
- ReversiHow to play Reversi, also known as Othello: the rules for flipping discs, why having more discs mid-game is bad, and how corners are won.
- Tic Tac ToeThe rules of tic tac toe and the complete strategy: the opening in the centre, the double threat, and why against a perfect opponent the best result is a draw.
- Tic Tac Toe EvolutionThe rules of Tic Tac Toe Evolution, also known as Ultimate Tic Tac Toe: your move decides where your opponent must play. Strategy, free moves and a bot at three levels.