Infinite Tic Tac Toe - AI Challenge

A visually enhanced game of Tic Tac Toe with a twist and a formidable AI opponent! This isn't your standard 3-in-a-row; the "infinite" rule adds a layer of complexity where your oldest piece disappears after you've placed three. Can you outsmart the AI?

Features

• Classic Tic Tac Toe Goal: Be the first to get three of your marks (X or O) in a row, column, or diagonal.
• Infinite Rule: Once a player has 3 marks on the board, placing their 4th mark will cause their oldest existing mark to be removed. This keeps the board dynamic!
• Challenging AI: Play against a bot using the Minimax algorithm (with adjustable search depth) to provide a tough opponent.
• Visual Enhancements: Custom color scheme and clean UI built with Tkinter.
• Removal Highlighting: The piece that is next in line to be removed (if you place another piece) is highlighted with a distinct background color.
• Score Tracking: Keeps track of wins between the Human and the Bot across rounds.
• Auto-Restart: The game automatically restarts shortly after a win, loss, or draw.

Technology

• Python 3
• Tkinter (Python's standard GUI library - usually built-in)

How to Play

1. Objective: Get 3 of your marks (you'll be assigned X or O) in a line.
2. Gameplay: Click on an empty square to place your mark.
3. The Infinite Rule: Pay attention! After you have 3 marks down, your next move will place your 4th mark AND remove your 1st mark. The highlighted piece (with the darker background) shows which one will disappear next.
4. Turns: The game alternates turns between you and the AI bot. The status bar indicates whose turn it is.

Running the Game

There are three ways to play:

1. Just open the website: You can play the game live in your browser by clicking here: Click Here

2. Running from Source:

• Ensure you have Python 3 installed.
• Clone this repository or download the source code.
• Rename the main script file if you chose a different name (e.g., infinite_tictactoe_ai.py).
• Make sure the icon.ico file is in the same directory as the script.
• Run the script from your terminal: bash python infinite_tictactoe_ai.py
• (Tkinter is typically included with standard Python installations. No external libraries are needed.)

3. Using the Executable:

• Download the pre-compiled executable file (infinite_tictactoe_ai.exe or similar) from the dist/ directory (if provided in the release/repository).
• Ensure the icon.ico file is included alongside the .exe in the dist/ directory if it wasn't bundled correctly (the provided PyInstaller command should bundle it).
• Double-click the .exe file to run the game directly on Windows.

The Challenge!

Think you've mastered Tic Tac Toe? Think again! The AI opponent in this version uses a strong Minimax search algorithm, making it incredibly difficult to defeat, especially with the added complexity of the infinite rule.

• Can you find a winning strategy?
• Can you even force a draw consistently?

Test your strategic thinking and see if you can beat the bot!

Building from Source (Optional)

If you want to create the .exe file yourself:

1. Install PyInstaller: pip install pyinstaller
2. Make sure icon.ico is in the same directory as your .py script.
3. Run the following command in your terminal from that directory (replace infinite_tictactoe_ai.py if you used a different name):

   pyinstaller --onefile --add-data "icon.ico;." --windowed --icon=icon.ico infinite_tictactoe_ai.py

4. The executable will be created in the dist sub-directory.

Contributing

Contributions, bug reports, and feature suggestions are welcome! Please feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details (optional - consider adding a LICENSE file).