Reversi is the classic two-player strategy game played on an 8x8 board with 64 two-sided discs. Black moves first from the fixed central setup. Every move must flank at least one straight line of enemy discs between the new disc and one of your own — horizontally, vertically or diagonally — and all flanked discs flip to your colour. A move that flips nothing is illegal. With no legal move you must pass; when both players pass consecutively, or the board fills up, the game ends and the player with more discs showing wins. Empty squares left at the end are scored for the winner, so final totals always add up to 64.
Play now — it's freeThe board is an 8x8 grid of 64 empty squares. Each player owns 32 two-sided discs, one colour up (traditionally dark and light).
The game starts with four discs already in the central 2x2: the same colours sit on a diagonal — d4 and e5 light, e4 and d5 dark. Black (the dark side) moves first.
Historical note: in the original 19th-century Reversi the first four central discs were played alternately from an empty board; the modern fixed setup — and the one used everywhere online, including this site — is the one popularised as Othello, a trademarked name in some markets. The rules below are the common modern ruleset.
On your turn you place one disc, colour up, on an empty square. The placement must flank at least one enemy disc: in at least one of the eight directions (horizontal, vertical, both diagonals), a continuous unbroken line of enemy discs must run from the new disc to one of your own discs.
All enemy discs in every flanked line flip to your colour in the same move — one placement may flip discs in several directions at once, and flipping is never optional.
A placement that flips nothing is illegal; you may never choose to pass while a legal move exists.
If you have no legal move, your turn is a forced pass and play returns to your opponent.
The game ends when the board is completely full, or when both players pass in succession (neither side can move).
If one player runs out of discs on the board, no further flips are possible and the game ends immediately.
When the game ends, the player with more discs showing in their colour wins.
By the common convention (used here and by most implementations), any empty squares left at the end are scored for the winner — final totals always add up to 64 (e.g. 40–24 with 0 empty, or 33–31 from 32–30 with 2 empty).
If both players end with exactly 32 discs, the game is drawn and no empty squares are awarded.
Each move allows 40 seconds; if time runs out or a player disconnects, an automated assistant plays that move.
This site enforces the forced-pass rule automatically: when it is your turn and you have no legal placement, a Pass button appears — the server rejects any other action.
Corners can never be flipped — a disc in a corner is stable for the rest of the game. Corner moves outrank everything else.
Do not feed your opponent the corners: the X-squares (b2, g2, b7, g7) diagonally adjacent to corners, and the C-squares next to them, hand over corner moves if you take them while the corner is still empty.
Early on, fewer discs can be better: a wide, quiet position keeps your options open and starves the opponent of safe moves.
Minimise your frontier — discs adjacent to empty squares are the only ones that can be flipped next turn.
Watch mobility, not material: forcing your opponent to hand you the best squares matters more than the current disc count.
Reversi is a classic two-player abstract strategy game on an 8x8 board with 64 two-sided discs. Players place discs that must flank enemy discs in a straight line, flipping all flanked discs; the majority of discs showing at the end wins.
Reversi is the original public-domain name of the game. Othello is a trademarked modern variant with a fixed central opening — it is now the standard way the game is played, and it is the setup this site uses. On this site the game is always called Reversi.
Black (the dark discs) moves first, from the central four-disc setup where same-coloured discs sit on a diagonal.
Your turn is a forced pass. If both players pass in a row the game ends immediately and the discs are counted.
By the common convention used here, empty squares left at the end are awarded to the winner, so final scores always add up to 64 — for example 33–31 from 32–30 with two empty squares.
Yes — if both players finish with exactly 32 discs the game is a draw.
A disc in a corner can never be flipped because no line passes through it, so it is permanently stable. The squares diagonally next to corners (X-squares) are dangerous for the same reason: taking them often gives the corner away.
Yes — play Reversi online free at reversi.yeeqia.com, straight in your browser with no download or sign-up required.
Yes, the site is mobile-first and runs in any modern browser on Android or iPhone, with full English and Japanese support.