README.md

TicTacToe

Using Minimax, I implemented an AI to play Tic-Tac-Toe optimally. AI50 course project for tictactoe.

There are two main files in this project: runner.py and tictactoe.py. tictactoe.py contains all of the logic for playing the game, and for making optimal moves. You can run python runner.py to play against your AI! I’ve chosen to represent the board as a list of three lists (representing the three rows of the board), where each internal list contains three values that are either X, O, or EMPTY.

Video

Functions description

• There is a player function that takes a board state as input, and return which player’s turn it is (either X or O).
  • In the initial game state, X gets the first move. Subsequently, the player alternates with each additional move.
  • Any return value is acceptable if a terminal board is provided as input (i.e., the game is already over).
• The actions function returns a set of all of the possible actions that can be taken on a given board.
  • Each action is represented as a tuple (i, j) where i corresponds to the row of the move (0, 1, or 2) and j corresponds to which cell in the row corresponds to the move (also 0, 1, or 2).
  • Possible moves are any cells on the board that do not already have an X or an O in them.
  • Any return value is acceptable if a terminal board is provided as input.
• The result function takes a board and an action as input, and returns a new board state, without modifying the original board.
  • If action is not a valid action for the board, the program raises an exception.
  • The returned board state is the board that results from taking the original input board, and letting the player whose turn it is make their move at the cell indicated by the input action.
• The winner function accepts a board as input, and return the winner of the board if there is one.
  • If the X player has won the game, the function returns X. If the O player has won the game, the function returns O.
  • One can win the game with three of their moves in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
  • It was assumed that there will be at most one winner (that is, no board will ever have both players with three-in-a-row, since that would be an invalid board state).
  • If there is no winner of the game (either because the game is in progress, or because it ended in a tie), the function returns None.
• The terminal function accepts a board as input, and return a boolean value indicating whether the game is over.
  • If the game is over, either because someone has won the game or because all cells have been filled without anyone winning, the function returns True. Otherwise, the function returns False if the game is still in progress.
• The utility function accepts a terminal board as input and output the utility of the board.
  • If X has won the game, the utility is 1. If O has won the game, the utility is -1. If the game has ended in a tie, the utility is 0.
    • It was assumed that utility will only be called on a board if terminal(board) is True.
  • The minimax function takes a board as input, and return the optimal move for the player to move on that board.
    • The move returned is the optimal action (i, j) that is one of the allowable actions on the board. If multiple moves are equally optimal, any of those moves is acceptable.
    • If the board is a terminal board, the minimax function returns None.

For all functions that accept a board as input, it was assumed that it is a valid board (namely, that it is a list that contains three rows, each with three values of either X, O, or EMPTY).

To test the code, run

python runner.py

and play against your AI. Since Tic-Tac-Toe is a tie given optimal play by both sides, you will never be able to beat the AI (though if you don’t play optimally as well, it may beat you!).