carlini/printf-tac-toe
tic-tac-toe in a single call to printf observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
32/100
- Activity 0
- Release rhythm 35
- Longevity 100
Flags: no_releases
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 2302
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 1547
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
2531 stars · 63 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
A C program that plays tic-tac-toe using a single call to printf, written for the International Obfuscated C Code Contest 2020. It encodes a full game loop and AI logic entirely within a printf format string and argument list.
Use cases
- play tic-tac-toe from the terminal
- study extreme obfuscated C techniques
- see how printf format strings can compute
- IOCCC entry demonstration
- learn about %n format specifier tricks
When to choose
- you want a famous obfuscated C curiosity to explore or demo
- you're studying IOCCC-winning style code or printf abuse
When to avoid
- you need a real, maintainable tic-tac-toe game
- you want production-quality or portable C code
- you need a game with a graphical interface
Facets
application · maturity experimental
interpreter developer-tools programming-languages gaming-tools windows cli cpp obfuscated-c ioccc printf-turing-machine novelty c tic-tac-toe code-golf algorithms linux macos
1 source
- readme: https://github.com/carlini/printf-tac-toe · fetched 2026-08-28 · 2bdf727a58de
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| carlini/printf-tac-toe | main | 32 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="carlini/printf-tac-toe")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem