How to play Othello
Also called Reversi (रिभर्सी), the older name for very nearly the same game, and written ओथेलो in Nepali.
Othello is a game for two on a board of 64 squares, with discs that are black on one face and white on the other. On your turn you put a disc down so that it closes a straight line of the other colour between it and one of yours, and every disc in that line turns to your colour. When neither player can move, whoever shows more discs wins.
Black moves first, from four discs laid crosswise in the middle. A player with no move loses the turn, and the four corners, which can never be turned, decide most games.
Set the table up with your own house rules
- Players
- 2
- What you need
- A board of 64 squares and 64 discs, black one side and white the other
- How long
- A game takes a few minutes
Rules checked 20 October 2026. How these rules are written
What Othello is
Othello is a two-player game played on a board of sixty-four squares. Players share a single set of discs, black on one side and white on the other. The face showing determines who currently controls that disc.
A move puts a disc down so that it closes a straight line of your opponent’s discs between it and another of yours. Every disc in that line turns over and becomes yours.
When nobody can play any more, whoever has more discs showing wins. A game runs about sixty moves and rarely ends the way it looked halfway through.
The board
Eight squares by eight, ruled in plain lines. Four dots are printed two squares in from each corner. They carry no rule at all and are there to be counted from.
Four discs start in the middle, laid crosswise. Black takes the two squares of one diagonal and white takes the other two, which is why black has exactly four opening moves and all four are the same move turned round.
Setting up
- Put the board between you with the ruled side up.
- Lay four discs on the four middle squares, crosswise, so each colour has one square of each diagonal.
- Black moves first. Here, the colour you pick on the game page is yours for the first game and the two of you swap after it.
- Keep the rest of the discs where both of you can reach them. Nobody owns a disc in this game, only a face.
Taking a turn
On your turn you put one disc, your face up, on an empty square. The square has to close a line.
Closing a line means this. Start at the square you are playing, walk out in a straight line in any of the eight directions, step over one or more of your opponent’s discs, and arrive on one of your own. Every disc you stepped over turns to your colour.
One move can close several lines at once, and all of them turn. A move that closes nothing is not a move at all, so a square with no line to close is a square you may not play on.
On a screen the squares you may use carry a small dot. Tap one and the disc goes down, then the lines it closed roll over after it.
When you cannot move
Sometimes no square on the board closes a line for you. When that happens you lose the turn and your opponent plays again.
You are not asked about this and there is no button for it. A turn with one possible outcome is not a decision, so the game plays it and the rail says whose turn went.
Losing a turn is not always bad news. A player with few discs often has more places to put them, and squeezing an opponent until they run out of squares is one of the ways this game is won.
How a game ends
The game ends when neither side has a move. Usually that is because every square is covered, and the count is simply the discs.
It can also end early, with squares still empty, when both sides are stuck. One side losing every disc ends it too, which is rare and sudden.
If the board does not fill, the empty squares go to whoever is ahead, so the two scores add to sixty four. You can turn that off on the game page and count only what is on the board. The same side wins either way.
Why the corners decide it
A disc turns by being closed between two of the other colour. A corner has nothing at all on two of its sides, so a corner disc can never be closed and never changes hands.
That makes the four corners worth more than anything else on the board. It also makes the square diagonally inside an empty corner the worst square there is, because putting a disc there is usually what hands the corner over.
The same reasoning runs along the edges. A whole edge anchored to a corner is safe, and safe discs are the only discs that count at the end.
Playing here
The rail above the board says whose turn it is. Below it sits the number of squares still empty, and the two disc counts are in the rail at the foot.
Your legal squares carry a small dot. Tap one to play. There is nothing to drag and nothing to pick up, because a disc never moves once it is down.
The disc you just played is ringed, and the discs it turned are marked with it, so the other side’s move can be read after it has happened.
Watch mode sets two bots against each other and deals another game when one ends. It is the quickest way to see what a sound opening looks like.
Playing better
- Take a corner whenever one is offered. Very little else is worth as much.
- Avoid the square diagonally inside an empty corner. That is how corners are given away.
- Turning the most discs is usually the worst move on the board. A big turn spreads your colour along the edge of the empty ground, where your opponent can take it all back.
- Count your moves rather than your discs. Being well ahead halfway through a game means very little.
- Try to be the one playing the last few discs. Late moves turn long lines and there is no time left to answer them.
Settings
Everything on the game page, before you press Play.
| Setting | Standard | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Who is playing | With bots | With bots sets you against a bot. On this phone seats two people who pass the phone between turns, and the colours swap after every game. Watch the bots, the link under the button, sets two bots against each other and starts a fresh game when one ends. |
| Your colour | Black | Black moves first, which is a small edge. The colours swap after every game. |
| Difficulty | Medium | How far ahead the bot looks, and how exactly it plays the last dozen moves. Easy throws moves away on purpose. |
| Empty squares count | For the winner | What an empty square is worth when a game ends before the board fills. It changes the score, never who won. |
| Speed | Normal | How quickly the discs turn. It does not change how well the bot plays. |
The words
- Othello
- The name the game has been sold under since 1971. The rules are a good deal older.
- Reversi
- The older name for very nearly the same game. In old Reversi the players chose where the first four discs went.
- Disc
- One piece. Black on one face and white on the other, so it belongs to whoever played it last.
- Turn
- What happens to a closed line. It is the only thing that ever happens on this board.
- Corner
- One of the four squares that can never be closed, and so never turns.
- Edge
- The outer ring of squares. Hard to turn, and safe once it reaches a corner.
- Mobility
- How many squares you may legally play on. Having more of them than your opponent is worth more than having more discs.
- Pass
- Losing a turn because no square closes a line for you.
- Wipeout
- Losing every disc on the board, which ends the game on the spot.
- Safe disc
- A disc that can never be turned again. Only safe discs are really yours.
How other families play it
Every family plays it a little differently. These are the ways we know of. The ones with a button are house rules this table can play.
Count only the discs on the board
How most people count at home: when a game ends before the board fills, the empty squares count for nobody. The score changes, never who won. It is a setting here.
Reversi's own opening
In old Reversi the players chose where the first four discs went. The table here always starts them crosswise in the middle, as Othello does, and does not have it.
Questions people ask
What are the rules of Othello?
Put a disc down so that it closes a straight line of your opponent's discs between it and one of yours, across, down or on a slant. Every disc in that line turns to your colour. A square that closes no line may not be played, and when neither side can move, more discs wins.
How do you set up an Othello board?
Put four discs on the four middle squares, laid crosswise, so each colour holds one diagonal. Black moves first and has exactly four opening moves, all the same move turned round.
What happens if you cannot move in Othello?
You lose the turn and your opponent plays again. Here the game passes for you, with no button to press. When neither player can move, the game is over.
Can one move flip discs in more than one direction?
Yes. One disc can close lines in several of the eight directions at once, and every closed line turns.
Who goes first in Othello?
Black. Here the colours swap after every game, so the first move goes back and forth.
How is Othello scored?
By the discs showing at the end. If the board does not fill, the empty squares go to the winner by default, so the two scores add to 64. You can choose to count only the discs on the board instead. The winner is the same either way.
What is the difference between Othello and Reversi?
Very little. In old Reversi the players chose where the first four discs went. Othello always starts them crosswise in the middle, and so does this table.
Why are the corners so important in Othello?
A corner disc can never be closed between two of the other colour, so it never turns again. The square diagonally inside an empty corner is the one to avoid, because playing there usually hands the corner over.
Every rule on this page is the one the app plays by. Change any of them on the game's own page before you start.