Tic Tac Toe Game

✔ Key Features

• Powered by the Minimax Algorithm — a classical Artificial Intelligence technique used in two-player zero-sum games to compute the optimal move every time
• The AI opponent is provably unbeatable — it evaluates every possible future game state recursively and always selects the highest-scoring move
• AI uses a depth-adjusted scoring system — AI win scores +10 minus depth (faster wins preferred), player win scores depth minus 10, and draw scores 0
• Smart game tree search — the Minimax algorithm builds a complete decision tree of all possible moves and backtracks to find the best outcome for the AI
• AI move is triggered safely using javax.swing.Timer with a 400ms delay, ensuring it runs on the Event Dispatch Thread without freezing the GUI
• Interactive two game modes — Single Player (Human vs Minimax AI) and Two Player (local multiplayer), switchable at any time via the mode selector
• Real-time win and draw detection across all 8 possible lines — 3 rows, 3 columns, and 2 diagonals — after every move by both human and AI
• Fully crash-free with complete input validation — all cell clicks are bounds-checked (0–8) and occupancy-checked before being accepted
• Built using Java Swing and AWT Graphics2D with anti-aliased rendering, hover effects, win highlight, and strike-through line for a polished user experience
• Clean MVC architecture separating GameModel (AI logic + game state), GamePanel/BoardCanvas (view), and ControlPanel (controller) for maintainable, modular code

⚙ Installation Guide

1. Ensure your system meets the minimum requirements — JDK 8 or higher, at least 128 MB RAM, and any OS (Windows / macOS / Linux)
2. Download and install the Java Development Kit (JDK) from the official Oracle website: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/
3. During JDK installation on Windows, note the installation path (e.g., C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17) — you will need it for environment variable setup
4. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable — go to System Properties → Environment Variables → New System Variable → Name: JAVA_HOME, Value: your JDK path
5. Add JDK to the system PATH — in Environment Variables, edit the Path variable and add a new entry: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17\bin
6. Verify the installation by opening Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (macOS/Linux) and running: java -version and javac -version — both should display the installed version
7. On Linux (Ubuntu/Debian), install JDK directly using the terminal command: sudo apt update && sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk -y
8. On macOS, install JDK using Homebrew with the command: brew install openjdk@17 and then add it to your shell profile
9. Copy the project file TicTacToe.java into a folder of your choice, for example: C:\TicTacToe\ on Windows or ~/TicTacToe/ on macOS/Linux
10. Open Command Prompt or Terminal, navigate to the project folder using cd, and compile the source file by running: javac TicTacToe.java