A precursor to Tick-Tack-Toe, MegaChess Giant Nine Men's Morris is a game in which counters are placed on a grid with the aim of creating lines of three. Once all the pieces are down, they can be moved one space per move. Whenever a player forms a row of three, he can remove one of his opponent's pieces from the board. The first player down to two pieces loses.

The simplicity of the game board meant that people across the world could create their own without much hassle. Boards dating as far back as 1440 B.C. have been found carved into steps and rocks in Sri Lanka, Bronze Age Ireland, ancient Troy and the Southwestern United States. Not content with scaring the landscape alone, it seems that fans through history carved the board into seats, walls, and even tombstones across England. For all the concern over World of Warcraft, we'll know computer game addiction has become truly serious when people start vandalizing their nearest graveyard for a quick fix.

Rules

Nine Men's Morris, closely related to the board games Morabaraba, Three Men's Morris, Six Men's Morris, and Twelve Men's Morris, is an abstract strategy game that dates back to before 1400 BC.

Whenever a player creates a string of three pieces on one line, he immediately removes one of his opponent's pieces. (This can happen during the setup phase or the regular phase.) However, an opponent's piece which is part of a string may not be removed unless no other piece is available.