Reversi — better known by its commercial name Othello — is a deceptively simple game with real strategic depth: the leader mid-game is often not the leader at the end. Our Reversi game brings the full 8×8 flipping-disc experience into your browser.
The core rule
Place a disc so it forms a straight line with another disc of your color, sandwiching one or more opponent discs in between — every sandwiched disc flips to your color immediately. Lines can run horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Why only some squares are clickable
The interface highlights every legal move for you — squares that wouldn’t actually flip at least one opponent disc aren’t clickable, since a “no-capture” placement isn’t a legal Reversi move at all.
Passing turns
If a player has no legal move available, their turn is automatically skipped and control passes back to the opponent — a common point of confusion for new players, since it can feel like the turn “got stuck.” If neither player has a legal move, or the board fills completely, the game ends immediately.
Corner strategy
Corner squares can never be flipped back once placed, making them the single strongest position on the board. Our computer opponent explicitly prioritizes taking a corner whenever one is legally available, then falls back to whichever move flips the most of your discs — a solid baseline heuristic that reflects real Reversi strategy.
Counting the win
When the game ends, whoever controls more discs on the board wins — not whoever had the most discs at any earlier point. This is what makes Reversi’s endgame so different from how the middle game looks; a seemingly dominant position can collapse in the final moves if the opponent sets up the right corner captures.