This is very random, but as a teenager, I participated in monthly C programming contests that were run by the MacTech magazine.

One of the contests was specifically to program an algorithm to play a game called "Dots and Boxes".

My own entry was actually a port of ... the JavaScript code on this very page (that I'm posting here)..!

http://preserve.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.17/17.09/Se...

I also remember playing this game a lot in high school with pen and paper. It's super fun. Cheers