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. Orbit Four is four in a row on a 4×4 board that turns one step after every move: what counts is where the pieces land, not where you place them.
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. Block the Path is a race on a 9×9 board: the first to bring their pawn to the other side wins, but on any turn you can place one of your ten walls instead, to make your opponent’s route longer without ever closing it.
The game in progress is saved after every move. Against the bot, wins, draws and losses are counted level by level.
- Block the PathHow to play Block the Path, the race on a 9×9 board where each player takes their pawn to the other side and blocks the opponent with ten walls: the rules, jumps, when a wall pays off and how not to wall yourself in.
- 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.
- Orbit FourHow to play Orbit Four, four in a row on a 4×4 board that rotates after every move: the rules, the final spins, why the centre matters and how not to lose on your opponent’s rotation.
- 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.