GamesCrafters :: Games

Shift Tac Toe

History

Shift Tac Toe was first released in 1988 by Pressman games.

The Board

Shift-tac-toe is played on a standing three-row, three-column grid with slots for the pieces to be inserted from the top. As the game progresses, players may shift one of the rows on their turn. A row is able to be shifted at most one space to the left and at most one space to the right from its starting position.

The Pieces

The first player has five black disks to place and the second player has five red disks to place.

Rules

To move: On their turn, a player either inserts one of their disks into an open column or shifts one of the rows. When placing a disk in the column, the disk will fall to the lowest available row on top of any other disks that were placed in the column. One may not insert a disk into a column already containing three disks. When shifting a row, (1) any piece shifted away from the main three-row, three-column grid drops out of the board and is returned to its owner and (2) some disks in above rows may fall one row lower if the row-shift opens up spaces below them.

To win: Be the first player to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of three of your disks.