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Writer's pictureArjun Mahajan

Python Game Series: Tic-Tac-Toe

A classic game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking spaces in a 3×3 grid. It's great for learning about 2D arrays and basic game logic in Python


The Code

Here's a sneak peek into the Python code that makes this game come to life. We'll use basic programming constructs like loops, conditionals, and functions to create an interactive Tic-Tac-Toe game.


import random
def draw_board(board):
    print('   |   |')
    print(' ' + board[7] + ' | ' + board[8] + ' | ' + board[9])
    print('   |   |')
    print('-----------')
    print('   |   |')
    print(' ' + board[4] + ' | ' + board[5] + ' | ' + board[6])
    print('   |   |')
    print('-----------')
    print('   |   |')
    print(' ' + board[1] + ' | ' + board[2] + ' | ' + board[3])
    print('   |   |')
def input_player_letter():
    letter = ''
    while not (letter == 'X' or letter == 'O'):
        print('Do you want to be X or O?')
        letter = input().upper()
    if letter == 'X':
        return ['X', 'O']
    else:
        return ['O', 'X']

def who_goes_first():
    if random.randint(0, 1) == 0:
        return 'computer'
    else:
        return 'player'

def make_move(board, letter, move):
    board[move] = letter

def is_winner(board, letter):
    return ((board[7] == letter and board[8] == letter and board[9] == letter) or
            (board[4] == letter and board[5] == letter and board[6] == letter) or
            (board[1] == letter and board[2] == letter and board[3] == letter) or
            (board[7] == letter and board[4] == letter and board[1] == letter) or
            (board[8] == letter and board[5] == letter and board[2] == letter) or
            (board[9] == letter and board[6] == letter and board[3] == letter) or
            (board[7] == letter and board[5] == letter and board[3] == letter) or
            (board[9] == letter and board[5] == letter and board[1] == letter))

def get_board_copy(board):
    return board[:]

def is_space_free(board, move):
    return board[move] == ' '

def get_player_move(board):
    move = ' '
    while move not in '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9'.split() or not is_space_free(board, int(move)):
        print('What is your next move? (1-9)')
        move = input()
    return int(move)

def choose_random_move_from_list(board, moves_list):
    possible_moves = []
    for move in moves_list:
        if is_space_free(board, move):
            possible_moves.append(move)
    if possible_moves:
        return random.choice(possible_moves)
    else:
        return None

def get_computer_move(board, computer_letter):
    if computer_letter == 'X':
        player_letter = 'O'
    else:
        player_letter = 'X'
    for i in range(1, 10):
        copy = get_board_copy(board)
        if is_space_free(copy, i):
            make_move(copy, computer_letter, i)
            if is_winner(copy, computer_letter):
                return i
    for i in range(1, 10):
        copy = get_board_copy(board)
        if is_space_free(copy, i):
            make_move(copy, player_letter, i)
            if is_winner(copy, player_letter):
                return i
    move = choose_random_move_from_list(board, [1, 3, 7, 9])
    if move:
        return move
    if is_space_free(board, 5):
        return 5
    return choose_random_move_from_list(board, [2, 4, 6, 8])

def is_board_full(board):
    for i in range(1, 10):
        if is_space_free(board, i):
            return False
    return True
print('Welcome to Tic Tac Toe!')
while True:
    theBoard = [' '] * 10
    playerLetter, computerLetter = input_player_letter()
    turn = who_goes_first()
    print('The ' + turn + ' will go first.')
    game_is_playing = True
    while game_is_playing:
        if turn == 'player':
            draw_board(theBoard)
            move = get_player_move(theBoard)
            make_move(theBoard, playerLetter, move)

            if is_winner(theBoard, playerLetter):
                draw_board(theBoard)
                print('Hooray! You have won the game!')
                game_is_playing = False
            else:
                if is_board_full(theBoard):
                    draw_board(theBoard)
                    print('The game is a tie!')
                    break
                else:
                    turn = 'computer'
        else:
            move = get_computer_move(theBoard, computerLetter)
            make_move(theBoard, computerLetter, move)

            if is_winner(theBoard, computerLetter):
                draw_board(theBoard)
                print('The computer has beaten you! You lose.')
                game_is_playing = False
            else:
                if is_board_full(theBoard):
                    draw_board(theBoard)
                    print('The game is a tie!')
                    break
                else:
                    turn = 'player'
    print('Do you want to play again? (yes or no)')
    if not input().lower().startswith('y'):
        break

Here is the screenshot of me playing tic-tac-toe:

tic-tac-toe

Enjoy the game! Get the code from Github: https://github.com/IGNITE-Pathways/tic-tac-toe 


Pygame Version


Explore the pygame version of the same game. tic-tac-toe-pygame.py file in Github contains the source code. NOTE: Player X starts first


tic-tac-toe


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