Tic Tac Toe

Tic-Tac-Toe is my favorite practice game.  It challenges you to be able to shoot anywhere on the board - but the basic strategy is grade school simple and can provide a lot of drama.

To get started, draw a Tic-Tac-Toc grid on the score board.  Then, everyone takes turns splashing with three darts.  Players can choose where to place the numbers they hit (1-20 and bullseye) on the board (no duplicates).  Now shoot for the bull to see who goes first.  Put small X's and O's in the square to keep track of marks as you go.

The simplest variation is "three to capture" where the first person to get three marks on a number captures it.  Other simple variations are:

• only counting doubles,
• five to capture,
• if you hit a double or triple during the splash, make that the target

Double Out Variations

Instead of shooting straight at doubles, populate the board with the sum of your splash (two or three darts) and then capture a square by taking that number out (i.e. like in 501, your darts add up to the number with your last dart being a double.)  You can limit a player to one capture per turn - or you can allow players to continue if they still have darts after a double-out or a bust.  We play one-to-claim for these variations.

Ahead-by-five variations (a.k.a. Dic-Tac-Toc)

My favorite variation is to require someone to be ahead by 5 marks to claim a square.  To score this version, you erase any small marks the other player has before you mark yours.  For example, if X has three marks on a spot and O hits two - O erases two of X's marks.  There is something especially fun about getting to literally erase your opponents marks.  This version has the flavor of a cricket point battle, where players battle back and forth.  It also is a longer game and favors the better player - so you might consider handicapping it (see Other Ideas below).

More is Merrier

To play with more than two players, just add more shapes to the game.  If the game gets to the point where everyone is blocked from capturing a whole row or column, play out the rest of the board and the person with them most squares wins.

Handicapping

Just make the number of marks to capture different for different level players.  Or, when someone wins, increase the marks they need for the next match.  Play until someone gets up to 7 marks.  Remember, this is about practicing under pressure - and having fun - not just winning.

Winning on the first turn while playing "three to capture" tic-tac-toe.