Introduction to Reversi (Othello)
Reversi, sold commercially as Othello, is a two-player game of black and white discs on an 8×8 board. You can learn the rules in a minute. The strategy runs much deeper, and it is one of the most mathematically studied board games there is.
What Reversi is
Reversi is a strategy game for two players. You need an 8×8 board and 64 discs, each black on one side and white on the other. Players take turns placing discs, and whoever has more discs showing their colour at the end wins.
What makes it unusual is the flipping. One move can turn several of your opponent's discs over to your colour, so control of the board can swing hard within a few turns. The early game is quiet positioning. The late game gets explosive and very tactical.
- The rules are short, but the game rewards long-term planning. Every move weighs mobility, corners, edges, and what you gain now against what you give away later.
- A single move can flip a whole line of discs, and the board can change hands in a couple of turns.
- The old slogan says it takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. New players pick up the rules fast, and getting good takes real study.
How a game works
The game starts with four discs in the centre, two black and two white, set out on the diagonals. Black always moves first.
You place a disc on an empty square so that at least one line of your opponent's discs is trapped between the new disc and another of yours. Lines can run horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Every opponent disc caught in those lines flips to your colour.
Players alternate. If you have no legal move you must pass, and if neither player can move the game ends. Passes get more common in the middle and late game, when moves are scarce. The Reversi rules page walks through each rule with board examples.
How you win
The game ends when all 64 squares are filled or when neither player can make a legal move. Both players count the discs showing their colour, and the higher count wins. Equal counts are a draw.
There are no points along the way. The final count is the whole score, so it reflects who controls the board at the finish and nothing else.
Why such a simple game runs deep
In chess or checkers a piece stays yours until it is captured. In Reversi any disc you flip can be flipped back later. A big gain now can hide a weakness that costs you the game, and the discs that are safe at the end matter far more than the count in the middle.
Mobility, the number of legal moves you have, sits at the centre of strategy. A player short of moves gets forced into bad ones, hands control to the opponent and loses access to the key squares. Managing mobility is most of what advanced players think about.
Corners (a1, h1, a8 and h8) are the most valuable squares. A corner disc can never be flipped. It often anchors a whole edge, and it cuts down the opponent's options. Whoever holds the corners usually wins.
The three stages of a game
In the opening, good players keep their disc count low and their options open. They stay off the edges early and avoid giving the opponent an easy way into a corner. Beginners tend to grab discs, but piling up discs early usually leaves you short of moves in the midgame.
The midgame brings large flips, fights over mobility, deliberate sacrifices and a lot of manoeuvring for position. The board gets volatile here, and one mistake can snowball quickly.
In the last 10 to 15 moves, every choice is tightly constrained. Disc count finally matters, and exact calculation often decides the winner. Stable discs, the ones that can no longer be flipped, become critical. Endgame skill is what separates strong players from beginners.
The main strategy ideas
The other guides in this series cover these in detail. Here is the short version.
- Mobility. Keep more playable moves than your opponent. Squeezing their options is how you end up dominating the position.
- Corners. They decide long-term stability and who controls the edges. Never give one away unless you have no choice.
- Edges. They are hard to flip, often stable, and they are where corner fights happen. Taking them too early still costs you mobility.
- Stable discs. A stable disc can never be flipped again. Stability spreads out from corners and along edges, and it decides the endgame.
- Parity. In the endgame, the player who controls whether a region has an odd or even number of empty squares often gets the last move there. It is one of the most advanced ideas in the game.
Start with the beginner strategy guide, then the advanced strategy guide once mobility and corners feel natural.
Who the game suits
Beginners get simple rules, quick games, a clear board and immediate feedback on every move. Intermediate players find real strategic depth, a lot of patterns to learn and decisions that matter. Advanced players work on long-term plans, endgame parity counts, professional openings and precise control of mobility.
That range is why Reversi is still one of the most mathematically studied board games in the world. The history of Reversi covers how it got there.
Playing and improving online
Reversi works well on a screen. On PlayFaceToFace each move places the disc, flips the trapped lines and updates the legal move hints for you, so rule mix-ups disappear and learning comes quickly. A full game usually takes 5 to 10 minutes, which suits casual play, repeated practice and quick competitive matches.
Nothing is hidden. Both players see the whole board, so the result comes down to analysis, pattern recognition and reading ahead, which makes it one of the fairest strategy games you can play online. You improve fastest by playing many matches and looking back at your mistakes.
To get better quickly:
- Play short games often.
- Watch your mobility and avoid moves that cut your options sharply.
- Stay off the edges early.
- Notice how a corner shapes the whole region around it.
- Practise counting discs in the endgame.
Try a quick demo game
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Reversi
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