Othello

Goro Hasegawa trademarked the name Othello in Japan in 1971, but the game itself dates back to the 1880s in England under the name Reversi. He chose the name from Shakespeare's play because the black and white discs mirror the play's themes of racial tension and reversal of fortune. The tagline 'a minute to learn, a lifetime to master' has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Othello challenges you to outflank your opponent on an 8x8 board, flipping their discs to your color with every valid move. A single placement can flip discs in up to eight directions at once. The board state shifts constantly. A 2019 study in the journal Aging Research Reviews found that playing strategic board games helps maintain cognitive function in older adults. Start a game right now in your browser and experience the flip for yourself.

1. The board starts with four discs in the center. Two black discs sit on a diagonal, and two white discs sit on the opposite diagonal.
2. Black always moves first. Click any highlighted square to place your disc.
3. A valid move must outflank at least one opponent disc. That means your new disc and an existing disc of your color must enclose a straight line of opponent discs with no empty gaps.
4. The game flips all outflanked discs to your color. A single move can flip discs in multiple directions simultaneously.
5. If you have no valid moves, your turn passes automatically. The opponent plays again.
6. The game ends when neither player can move or the board fills completely. Count the discs. The color with the most discs wins.

• Every move must outflank at least one opponent disc in a straight line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal).
• All outflanked discs flip to the moving player's color in a single turn.
• If a player has no valid move, their turn is skipped.
• The game ends when both players cannot move or the board is full.
• The player with the most discs at the end wins.
• Black moves first. Players alternate turns unless a turn is skipped.

• Grab corners whenever possible. Corner discs can never be flipped because no square exists beyond a corner to enclose them. They anchor your position permanently.
• Avoid the squares directly next to empty corners. Players call these X-squares and C-squares. Playing there hands your opponent a path to claim the corner.
• Keep your disc count low in the opening. Fewer discs means fewer targets for your opponent to flip, which limits their valid moves and restricts their options.
• Focus on mobility. The player with more available moves controls the pace and direction of the game. Force your opponent into positions where they have no good options.
• Build stable edges in the midgame. Discs on the board edge can only be outflanked from one direction, making them far harder to flip than interior discs.
• Switch to maximizing disc count in the endgame. When only a handful of squares remain, flip as many discs as possible on every move.

• Reversi: The original 1880s version. Some Reversi rules allow players to choose the starting position, while Othello fixes the four center discs. Our Reversi page uses the same engine.
• 6x6 Othello: A smaller board for faster games. Good for learning the core strategies before tackling the full 8x8 board.
• Anti-Othello: The goal reverses. The player with the fewest discs at the end wins. This forces you to think about the game in a completely different way.

• A single move can flip 15 or more discs, creating dramatic swings in who is ahead.
• Games finish in 10 to 20 minutes, fitting into a lunch break or a quiet evening.
• The rules take one minute to learn. The strategy takes years to master.
• Every game plays out differently because the board state shifts with every single move.
• You can play against the computer at multiple difficulty levels or challenge a friend locally.

Play Othello for free directly in your browser. No download. No registration. Our version highlights valid moves, animates disc flips, and tracks the score in real time. Choose your difficulty level and play against the computer, or switch to two-player mode for a local match. The game runs smoothly on desktop, tablet, and phone.

Othello rewards patience and positional thinking. The outflank rule creates a game where the board can reverse completely in a single move. Learn to control corners. Manage your mobility. Time your endgame flips. Place your first disc and start flipping today.

• World Othello Championship - Official Site
• Board games and cognitive function in older adults - Aging Research Reviews (2019)