# OpenSpiel state methods: serialize [Back to Core API reference](../api_reference.md) \
`serialize()` Returns a string representation of the state be used to reconstruct the state. By default, it is a string list of each action taken in the history. ## Examples: ```python import pyspiel game = pyspiel.load_game("tic_tac_toe") state = game.new_initial_state() state.apply_action(4) state.apply_action(2) state.apply_action(1) state.apply_action(5) state_copy = game.deserialize_state(state.serialize()) print(state_copy) # Output: # .xo # .xo # ... ```