Try to take over or dominate planes.

The four TIC-TAC-TOE

boards represent horizontal, vertical, and diagonal planes.
When you place three or four markers in one plane and your

Aa er
opponent has none, you can probably win. Continue to
force the opponent to block until you have two three-in-a-

INSTRUCTIONS |
rows which cannot both be blocked in one move.
When planning your moves during a game, don’t lose sight
of the fact that your opponent is doing the same. Blocking
your opponent’s markers is equally important to estab-
lishing a strategy of your own.
It has been proven that the first player to move can always Model CX: 2618
win, provided he or she plays a perfect game. The computer
on the other hand, has a degree of randomness pro-
grammed into its play, so it will not always play a perfect
game, even at the highest skill level (8). This gives the oppo-
nent a chance to win, if he or she is a skilled player.

GAME MATRIX
Difficulty Number of Computer’s
Level Moves the Approximate
Computer Move Time
Looks Ahead

1 1 Yo second
2. 2 3 seconds or less
3 3 1 minute or less
4 4 3 minutes or less
5 5 10 minutes or less
6 6 10 minutes or less
i 9 10 minutes or less
8 9 20 minutes or less

(we
ATARI
W rnedecnmmune need
ATARI, INC., Consumer Division
1195 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Printed in USA C011402-18 Rev.1
© 1980 ATARI, INC
Use your Joystick Controllers with this You must place four markers in a row before your opponent
ATARI® Game Program.™ Be sure the does, or before the computer does, to win. There are nine
Controllers are firmly plugged into the games in all. The first eight games are for one player com-
LEFT and RIGHT CONTROLLER jacks peting against the computer. Each game number (1-8) is a
at the rear of your ATARI Video Com- progressively harder skill level. Game 9 is for two players.
puter System.™ Hold the Controller
with the red button to your upper left : The following examples show some of the ways to win
toward the television screen. using only one of the four planes:
Use a Joystick plugged into the LEFT CONTROLLER jack
for one-player games. See Section 3 of your Video Com-
puter System Owner’s Manual for further details.

Note: Always turn the console power switch OFF when in-
serting or removing an ATARI Game Program. This will pro-
tect the electronic components and prolong the life of your
ATARI Video Computer System.

In this game there is a perspective drawing of four square

boards or planes displayed on the screen, which is intended
to create a three-dimensional effect. Each board isa4 x 4
grid. The object of the game is to place four X’s or four 0’s
in one horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row. To do this you
may use one plane or all four planes.

SKILL > —— NUMBER

LEVEL —7a Sm OF PLAYERS

eee— CURSOR
Here are some of the ways to win using all four planes:

After inserting the cartridge, turn your television on and

then flip the console power switch on. The display will
show the four square boards or planes and the number 1
will appear on each side of the top of the screen. The left
number 1 represents the game number (or skill level), and
may be changed by depressing the game select switch on
the console.

The right number 1 corresponds to the number of players

for each game. This number changes automatically to 2
when the ninth game is selected.
Depress the game reset switch to begin a new game. The
game number remains the same when the game reset
switch is depressed. The game number only changes when
the game select switch is used, or when the power is turn-
ed on and off.

To move your “cursor” (the blinking X or 0) right or left,

move the Joystick right or left. Your cursor will wrap around
(disappear on one side of the level or plane and appear on
the other side). Move the Joystick forward to move your cur-
sor up from square to square or to a new level as it reaches
the top of a plane. To move the cursor down in the same
manner, move the Joystick back or toward yourself. Put the
Joystick in a diagonal position and the cursor moves
diagonally on the screen, and also moves from level to
level.
To place an X or an 0 on the screen, press the controller
button when the cursor is in the square you wish to occupy.
The last move made is indicated by a blinking X or 0 in the
In total, there are 76 possible ways to win. It is not possible appropriate square.
to win by using two or three planes, you must use one or all The computer will not allow a move to an occupied square.
four. It will sound an error message when a player presses the
controller button in an attempt to move into a square which
is already occupied.
 position. You may then use the Joystick plugged into the
LEFT CONTROLLER jack to place X’s or O’s anywhere on
the screen. Press the controller button to place markers.
Hold the button down and the cursor alternates between
Each game number represents a progressively harder skill X’s, 0’s, and blanks on the screen so that you may place
level. The game numbers and skill levels therefore are inter- whichever you wish in the desired square.
changeable. The only exception to this is Game 9. Game 9
is for two players, and the skill level is not applicable. Whenever you place the left difficulty switch in the b posi-
tion, TIC-TAC-TOE is ready for normal game play. After
Game 1 is the least difficult to play against, Game 8 is the using the set up mode, either X or 0 may play first. This is
most difficult. determined by the position of the right difficulty switch, the
At level 1 the computer moves quickly and is fairly easy to same as at the start of the game.
beat. At level 8, the computer may think or “compute” for
as long as 20 minutes before making its move and is very
difficult to beat. Check the Game Matrix for the number of
moves the computer looks ahead during each skill level, as
well as the compute or move time for each level. To beat the computer or another player, you must place two
When the computer is working on its next move, the TIC- three-in-a-rows so that the opponent cannot block both of
TAC-TOE boards are not displayed. Instead, various colors them. Occasionally, you may win when an opponent fails to
appear on the screen. Depressing the game reset switch or see that you have three-in-a-row, but that method involves
moving the difficulty switches when this is happening has more luck than strategy.
no effect on the game. However, depressing the game At higher skill levels, placing three-in-a-row becomes dif-
select switch will cause the computer to move almost im- ficult. One of the secrets to playing winning TIC-TAC-TOE is
mediately, without changing the game number. to play in the 16 “strong” squares at the beginning of a
If the computer is NOT computing its next move, the skill game. The 16 strong squares are the eight outside corner
level or game number may be changed during a game by squares, and the eight inside center squares.
depressing the game select switch.
“STRONG” SQUARES Xx outside strong squares
inside strong squares

The right difficulty switch determines who will begin a

game. For one-player games, when the switch is in the a
position, you start; when the switch is in the b position, the
computer starts. In two-player games the right difficulty
switch determines whether X or 0 starts. In the a position,
the X player, or the player using the Joystick plugged into
the LEFT CONTROLLER jack starts. In the b position, the
0 player (using the RIGHT CONTROLLER jack) starts.

The left difficulty switch may be used to create a “‘set up”

mode on the screen. To do this, put the switch in the a