The game uses a 3x3 square board. 2 players take turns to play, either placing a red on an empty square, or changing a red to orange, or orange to green. The player who forms 3 of 1 colour in a line wins.
Some puzzles requiring no knowledge of knot theory, just a careful inspection of the patterns. A glimpse of the classification of knots and a little about prime knots, crossing numbers and knot arithmetic.
Investigations based on an Indian game.
Start with the Got It target $23$.
The first player chooses a whole number from $1$ to $4$ .
Players take turns to add a whole number from $1$ to $4$ to the running total.
The player who hits the target of $23$ wins the game. Play the game several times. Can you find a winning strategy? Can you always win? Does your strategy depend on whether or not you go first?
Tablet/Full Screen Version
To change the game, choose a new Got It target or a new range of numbers to add on. Test out the strategy you found earlier. Does it need adapting? Can you work out a winning strategy for any target? Can you work out a winning strategy for any range of numbers? Is it best to start the game? Always?
Away from the computer, challenge your friends: One of you names the target and range and lets the other player start. Extensions: