How to play

Reversi

Reversi is played on an 8 × 8 board with discs that are black on one side and white on the other. Players take turns placing discs to outflank and flip the opponent's discs. When the game ends, whoever has more discs of their colour on the board wins.

Start

• Four discs start crosswise in the centre: white on d4 and e5, black on e4 and d5.
• Black moves first.

Placing and flipping

• Place a disc on an empty square so that at least one straight line of opponent discs is outflanked between the new disc and another disc of your colour (vertically, horizontally or diagonally).
• Every outflanked disc in every direction is flipped to your colour.
• A move that flips nothing is not allowed. The gold dots on the board show where you can play.

Passing and the end

• If you have no legal move on your turn you must pass (the site passes for you) and the opponent plays again.
• When neither side can move (including a full board) the game ends. Count the discs: more discs wins, equal is a draw.

Tips

• Corners are the best squares: a disc in a corner can never be flipped.
• Be careful with the squares next to an empty corner, especially the diagonal one; they often hand the corner to your opponent.
• Early on, having fewer discs but more possible moves is usually better than flipping many discs.

Computer levels

Play now