How This Game Works (No Math Required)

Intuition

Think of each player writing moves in an ink that only they can read. The server relays packets and keeps turn order, while players prove/check hidden claims without disclosing raw cells during live play.

What Happens in a Match

1. Both players open the same website and enter the same Game ID.
2. The server pairs them in one room.
3. On each turn, the acting player creates a hidden move commitment locally in the browser.
4. Before sending the move, peers run an SMP equality check over hidden secrets to detect conflicts without revealing cells.
5. If the move is accepted, the server advances the turn.
6. When a local winning line is detected, reveal settlement is requested and each side submits opening receipts for its committed moves.

Why It Is Trustworthy

• Messages are signed with integrity tags, so tampering is detectable.
• Replayed messages are caught by nonce checks.
• Reveal-opening receipts are verified before final board settlement.

What You Can See vs Cannot See

• You can see accepted turns and adjudication events.
• You cannot see the opponent's entire hidden strategy during play.

FAQ

1) How do I know the other side isn't cheating?

• Move commitments are generated locally and conflict checks run peer-to-peer (via relayed packets) before acceptance.
• Reveal settlement requires valid opening receipts bound to the game context.
• Message tampering/replay is also checked in the protocol layer, so altered or stale messages can be detected and rejected.

2) If I can't tell what my opponent moves are, how can collisions be detected?

• Each side runs SMP-based equality checks against its own occupied hidden set when it receives an opponent move proposal.
• The responder returns an accept/reject verdict without disclosing unrelated cells.
• The acting player only submits the move to the server after a positive verdict.