We took classic Tic Tac Toe and added some action!

Did you ever play this game as a kid? We used to have it and it was something we really enjoyed as a family. It would be a lot of fun for a family reunion too.

Toss Across Rules

Decide who scores X and who scores O. The X player normally goes first. Each player takes three beanbags and stands on opposite sides of the Toss Across board, at roughly 6 feet.

Two Players

Players get alternate turns to throw the beanbags. The players aim at the nine rotating targets to try to turn up their letters. They keep taking turns tossing at the targets until one player gets all three of their letters lined up in a row (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

The players have to engage in various skills, tricks, or simply chances to try to hit their target when they toss beanbags. Players can use an overhand or underhand throw, whichever one works best.

The person playing X starts off the game by hurling a beanbag, aiming to hit a target and flip it to an X. The O Player goes second, repeating a similar play but aiming for an O. The two players continue to alternate the throws until there is a winner ending the game or that particular round.

Playing in Teams

To include four players in a round, the players can be grouped into two teams of two members each. Each team gets three beanbags and stands on opposite sides of the Toss Across board, also at a distance of 6 feet. The first player from Team X first throws a beanbag to try to flip a target, then the first player from Team O, followed by the second player from Team X, and finally the second player from Team O. They continue to play in this order until one team wins and that’s the end of the game or that round.

Toss Across Surprise Twist

What gives Toss Across an exciting flare is that no one turn is final. The game is normally not won in one straightforward complete round because it has many back-and-forth actions reversing and redoing the X or O selection of the opponent or a player accidentally undoing their previous move.

Each player can undo not only the other player’s turn-up but their own turn-up.   Another additional challenge that usually happens by chance is that a player can flip more than one target in one toss. At times, the target may not flip after a throw depending on how good the throw was. 

The unpredictability of each player’s flip makes it different from the traditional Tic-Tac-Toe.

How is that for an exhilarating family activity at a retreat or picnic?