Reversi
The disc-flipping game that takes a minute to learn. Place a disc so that a line of the other colour is trapped between two of yours, and the whole line turns over. The lead can change on the last move. Play a house player at Easy, Medium or Hard, or a friend on the same device, with every legal square shown.
Two players. A game takes 5 to 10 minutes. More board games: Checkers, Four in a Row, Backgammon, Dominoes, Sea Battle and Ludo are in Yuzool's Board Games too.
How to play Reversi
- The start: an 8×8 board with four discs in the middle, two of each colour set diagonally. Dark moves first.
- A move: place one disc on an empty square so that it outflanks at least one straight line of the other colour: across, up and down, or diagonally, with your new disc at one end and one of your discs at the other.
- Flipping: every disc trapped that way turns to your colour, in every direction at once.
- Passing: if you have no square that flips anything, you miss your turn. If you do have a move you must make one.
- The end: the game is over when neither player can move, usually when the board is full.
The squares where you may place a disc are marked; tap one. Discs that would turn over are shown as you choose. On a computer, use the arrow keys and Enter, or click. The full rules, with worked examples, are in How to play Reversi.
Winning
When neither player can move, count the discs of each colour. The player with more discs wins, and equal counts are a draw. Empty squares count for nobody.
Tips
- Take the corners. A disc in a corner can never be flipped, and it protects the edges that run from it.
- Keep off the squares next to an empty corner, above all the one diagonally beside it. They hand the corner over.
- Flip few discs early. The fewer discs you have in the opening, the fewer moves the other player has.
- Count moves, not discs. A player who runs out of safe moves has to give something away.
Questions
Is Reversi free to play here?
Yes. Reversi against the Easy and Medium house players, pass and play for two, the coach, undo and autosave are free, with no ads and no sign-up. Board Games Pro, a one-time $1.99 upgrade for all seven games, adds the Hard players, rule options, full statistics and history, and extra board and piece looks.
Does the computer cheat?
No. Reversi has no hidden information and no dice: the house player sees the same board as you and plays by the same rules. The Hard player looks many moves ahead, which is why it gives up discs early and takes them back late.
Which rules are these?
The modern game: four discs fixed in the middle to start, dark moves first, you pass when you cannot move, and most discs wins. Pro adds the "Open start" option, the original 1880s way of beginning, in which the players place the first four discs in the middle squares themselves.
Can two people play on one device?
Yes. Choose pass and play and take turns on the same screen. The game is saved in this browser on this device if you close the tab part way through.