Toss Across - Luck Versus Skill

Luck Versus Skill

The strength of Toss Across is its balance between luck and skill. While the game generally rewards accurate tossing and effective strategy, there are elements of luck to game play. Even if a player succeeds in hitting the square they wish to change, it is often impossible to control the effect one's beanbag impact will have. Blocks may turn quickly, spinning a few times before coming to rest, at which point any side may be facing up. Players can be frustrated by hitting the square they want, only to change it to their opponent's letter. Further, the low quality of the plastic board can punish players. Blocks do not always turn, even when impacted.

Occasionally a beanbag toss can affect two (or in rare cases, more) squares simultaneously. Skillful players can attempt to do this on purpose, but more often it happens without intent.

With practice, players can become increasingly adept at hitting the precise location on the board that they wish, enabling them a better chance of affecting the square they wish to change.

In the original 1969 edition of the game, the pieces in the squares did not turn freely, but could instead only turn one face either direction from neutral. This is why the neutral squares had small X and O decals on them; if you hit the small X, the square would turn to X and stop. To turn it off of X, a bag had to strike the other half of the square. It might then turn back to neutral, or to O. So the original game had a much stronger emphasis on skill than the current version.