The French Military Game game really has nothing to do with France or the military, but that’s what the American mathematician Martin Gardner called this puzzle a few decades back.

The game is played against the computer with the two players alternating turns. You control the three black pieces while the computer controls the remaining red piece. You always go first.

The pieces move along the lines to the adjacent spots. The red computer piece can move in any direction along those lines, while your black pieces cannot go in a backward (downward) direction. To move, drag a black piece to valid adjacent location.

You win the game by trapping the computer where it cannot move within 20 turns. As an example, if the black pieces were at the lower left, middle, and upper left spots and the red piece was trapped at the middle left, you would win.

The computer wins by reaching the very bottom, where it cannot be caught.

The computer initially guesses how to win, but it improves its game each round by learning from you! If you can beat it 10 to 15 times, you’re doing a great job. Re-loading this applet by hitting your browser’s refresh button will erase the computer’s knowledge, but some people think that is cheating...