Teacher notes — Classroom Games
Steal the Square Beats Plain Tic-Tac-Toe in a Korean Hagwon Classroom
- Grid size: 3x3 for under 8 students, 4x4 or 4x5 for 8–15. Two smaller grids beat one giant one if you have more than 15.
- Assign turns by seat order or student number, not by who shouts first — this is the single biggest fix for a game that otherwise gets dominated by two kids.
- Raise difficulty mid-game if a team is clearing squares too fast; you don't need to plan this in advance, just watch the clock.
- Score by total squares held at the end, not by three-in-a-row, so the game doesn't end early for a big class.
- Works as a warm-up (5 minutes, easy questions) or a full review game (20+ minutes, mixed difficulty) with zero changes to setup.