TacTix

TacTix is a two-player strategy game invented by Piet Hein. It is essentially a two-dimensional version of Nim. Though the game is non-trivial, the first player can always win, at least in the 5 by 5 matrix version, by choosing the center piece and symmetrically mirroring the second player's moves. Players alternate taking pieces away from a 5 by 5 grid, as many contiguous pieces as desired from a single row or column.

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The game is often used as a programming exercise, and many versions are available on the web as Java applets.

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ASCII diagram:

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Strategy game: Strategy games are typically board games, video or computer games with the players' decision-making skills having a high significance in determining the outcome....

Piet Hein: Piet Pieterszoon Hein (1577–1629) was a Dutch naval commander and folk hero;his descendant Piet Hein (1905–1996) was a Danish poet and scientist....

Nim: : This article is about the game. For other uses: see Nim (disambiguation)....