Tish Tisha is a deceptive strategy puzzle. It looks like a simple Tic-Tac-Toe game, but it solves the biggest problem with that classic game: you can move the pieces. In Tish Tisha, placing the pieces is just the beginning. The real puzzle starts when you have to slide your pieces to trap your opponent. The faster you solve it, the better.
Phase 1: The Setup
Easily start by placing your three pieces. Each player (Triangle vs. Square) takes turns placing 3 pieces on the board. You cannot win during the setup phase; you must plan ahead for the movement phase.
Phase 2: The Movement
Once all 6 pieces are on the board, you slide pieces to adjacent empty squares beside your piece. You can only move Up, Down, Left, or Right. Diagonal moves are NOT allowed in this version!
How to Win
To win, you have to align the pieces horizontally or vertically only. Aligning them diagonally won't count as a win. The "Sudden Death" timer rule applies: if no one wins before the end of time, the last one to move before the clock ends wins. So it’s either you win before the timer ends, or you be the last one to move.
Draws & Modes
If one of the players is stuck and can't move, then it’s automatically a draw. It’s a very simple game that anyone can play with just an internet connection. If you don't want to play against humans, you can play against the computer.
I used to play this game when I was very young with my family and friends. My father taught me how to play it. I thought it was a new game we invented because none of my friends in school knew about it, so I taught them how to play it. But apparently, it existed wayyyy before. Honestly, I don't know the full history of the game, and I am not claiming to take any credit for creating this concept. I'm just a guy remaking his childhood game to share it with the world.
While we call it Tish Tisha, this game is actually a variant of the ancient game Three Men's Morris (sometimes called Nine Holes). It is quite literally one of the oldest board games in human history.
Archaeologists have discovered diagrams of this exact game board carved into the stone roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt, dating all the way back to roughly 1400 BC. That means people were playing this game over 3,000 years ago. From Egypt, the game spread across the ancient world. Board layouts have been found carved into the steps of Roman basilicas, where citizens would play to pass the time. It eventually evolved into the more complex Nine Men's Morris, which was hugely popular in Medieval England and was even mentioned by William Shakespeare in his play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Because the game is so simple to draw in the dirt or on a piece of wood, almost every culture has its own version. In the Philippines, a very similar game is called Tapatan. In Ghana, children play a version called Achi. In ancient China, it was known as Luk Tsut K'i.
(Note: Honestly, I read all this history from Wikipedia. I just wanted to share how cool it is that a game I played as a kid has been played by people for thousands of years.)