Play Reversi Online

How to Play Reversi

Modes: Vs AI · 2 Players

Place a disc on any empty square that traps one or more of your opponent’s discs between two of yours.

Every trapped disc flips to your color.

If you have no legal move you pass, and your opponent moves again.

When the board is full, whoever has more discs wins.

Rules

A legal move must outflank at least one disc in a straight line.

Captured discs flip instantly in all eight directions.

The game ends when neither player can move or the board is full.

Scoring

History & Origins of Reversi

Reversi was invented in 1883 by Lewis Waterman, an Englishman who offered it as a parlour game built around outflanking your opponent’s pieces. Similar flip-and-capture games had appeared under other names before it, but Waterman’s version found an audience and carried the idea into the twentieth century.

In 1971 the Japanese game designer Goro Hasegawa developed Othello, a cleaner version played on a fixed 8×8 board that starts with four discs already in the centre. Named after Shakespeare’s Moor, it spread across the world through the 1970s and 1980s, and today the names Reversi and Othello describe the same game.

ThinkyPlay plays on the classic 8×8 grid with live disc counts beside the board. Black opens, captured discs flip in every direction, and a player with no legal move is passed automatically — leaving you free to fight over corners, edges and the final disc majority.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Giving away the corners: placing a disc in an X-square next to an empty corner invites the AI to take that corner, and on Hard the computer weights corners heavily.
• Flipping every disc you can in the middle of the game — maximum flips early often hand your opponent the edges, while a quiet move can keep the perimeter yours.
• Waiting too long to secure the edge — edges anchor your discs and unlock corner plays, so a loose cluster of centre discs is a standing invitation to be outflanked.
• Forgetting you can be passed over: when you run out of legal moves the AI plays again automatically, so an overextended position can let the computer run away with the board.

Tips & Strategy

Corner discs can never be flipped — fight for them early.

Avoid handing your opponent the edges and corners.

Trade a few discs in the middle to control the perimeter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Reversi free to play?

Yes — Reversi on ThinkyPlay is free, with no download and no sign-up.

What is the difference from Othello?

None — Reversi and Othello share the same flip-the-discs rules.

Can I play against a friend?

Yes — 2 Players mode lets two people share the same screen.

What are the faint dots on empty squares?

Those are legal-move hints. They mark every empty square where the player to move can actually place a disc, which makes learning the flip rules much easier.

Why does the game end while squares are still empty?

Once neither player has a legal move the game is over. Empty squares simply stay empty, and the side owning more discs at that moment wins.

What happens if I have no legal move?

Your turn is passed automatically and a short notice explains it. You do not lose the turn for good — play resumes whenever you can move again.