When I play board games, I like to think about what’d happen if you changed the rules. For example:

• Tic-Tac-Toe, played on a 2×2 grid, is utterly pointless.
• Tic-Tac-Toe, played on a 4×4 grid, is not too fun. 3×3 is probably a better size.
• What happens in Connect 4 if you allow each player to drop two pieces at a time? I haven’t tried, but I suspect it’d have a tremendous impact.
• Why is the Connect 4 grid 7×6? What if it were 4×4? 9×9? Is it, like Tic-Tac-Toe, already at the ‘optimal’ level?
  • Why is it asymmetrical?
• What if you allow ‘bouncing’ off the walls, such that a sideways “V” (etc.) counts as four ‘in a row’?
• Among very experienced players, does Connect 4 usually result in a draw?
• What if you play Uno, but only start with three cards? (I seem to recall that you get a very, very short game.)
• What if you play Uno, but start with eleven cards? (I seem to recall that the game goes on forever and isn’t much fun.)