Board games

Reversi

Flank the computer discs to flip them to your colour and hold the most discs at the end.

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Controls

Arrow keys or WASDMove the marker around the board.
Space, Enter or tapPlace a disc on a legal square to flip the computer discs.
RStart a new game.

How to play

  1. Press R or tap the board to start. You play the dark discs and move first.
  2. Move the marker with the arrow keys or WASD to a legal square, shown highlighted.
  3. Press space, Enter, or tap to place a disc so it traps a line of the computer discs between yours; those flip to your colour.
  4. Fight for the corners, which can never be flipped, and finish with more discs than the computer to win.

About Reversi

Reversi, sold for years as Othello, takes a minute to learn and far longer to read well. Every move must trap a line of the opponents discs between the piece you place and another of yours, and all the trapped discs flip to your colour. Because a single move can flip a whole row, the board can swing from a rout to a loss in two or three plays.

The hard-won lesson is that the count midway through means little - corners cannot be flipped, so they are worth more than the dozen discs you might give up to reach one. The computer knows this and weights the corners and edges accordingly. You move to a legal square and place with the primary key or a tap. The player with the most discs at the end wins.

Frequently asked questions

Every move must trap at least one line of the computer discs between the disc you place and another of yours. Squares that would flip nothing are not legal, so the board highlights the ones that are.

The count partway through means little, because corners can never be flipped. The computer will trade discs now to win a corner, and the edges it holds, later.

While you are here

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The same team builds a set of free, privacy-first data and developer utilities - formatters, converters, validators and calculators - that run in your browser the same way these games do.

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