Reversi FAQ

Reversi is a two-player strategy game played on an 8x8 board, also widely known by the trademarked name Othello. Players take turns placing discs of their colour so that one or more of the opponent's discs are trapped in a straight line and flip to their colour. The game ends when neither player can move, and whoever has more discs on the board wins.

Yes. reversigame.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, and there are no interruptive video ads, premium tiers, or paywalls. Open the page and a board is already set up.

No. The game is the website — a 100% browser-based build with no app store download and no sign-up. Your stats are saved locally in your browser, so there is no login to manage.

They share the same core rules — an 8x8 board, the same opening position, and the same flip-by-sandwiching mechanic. Othello is a specific trademarked commercial version of the older game Reversi, with a couple of historical rule clarifications. This site implements the standard Reversi/Othello ruleset that both names commonly refer to today.

Reversi was first documented in England in the early 1880s, with disputed claims to its invention. The modern commercial version, branded Othello, was trademarked in Japan in 1971 and popularised worldwide from there, which is why many players today know the game under either name.

It is the same core game — an 8x8 board, the same starting position, and the same flip-by-sandwiching rule. This build uses the traditional Reversi name and adds a computer opponent with three difficulty levels, hints, and unlimited undo, none of which change the underlying rules.

The board starts with two Black and two White discs at the centre. Black moves first. On your turn, place a disc on an empty square so that it sandwiches at least one opponent disc in a straight line between your new disc and one you already own — every disc in that line flips to your colour. If you have no legal move, your turn is skipped. The match ends when neither side can move, and the player with more discs wins.

Your turn is skipped automatically and play passes to your opponent — you do not get to choose to pass voluntarily, and you are never forced to make a move that flips nothing. If neither player has a legal move, the match ends immediately and the disc count decides the winner.

Yes, though it is uncommon. If every remaining empty square is illegal for both colours — usually because one colour has been completely eliminated from the board, or the last squares cannot be flipped into — the match ends there and whoever has more discs at that moment wins.

Tap or click any highlighted legal-move square to play there. On the keyboard, U undoes your last move together with the computer's reply, H shows a hint, N starts a new match, and M toggles sound.

Yes. Choose your colour on the deal screen before starting a match. Black always moves first regardless of who is playing it, so if you choose White the computer opens the game and you respond.

It highlights one strong legal move for your current turn, calculated the same way the computer opponent evaluates the board, without spending your turn. Ask for a hint as often as you like — it is only ever a suggestion.

The computer searches ahead using the same kind of move-scoring approach strong Reversi players use by hand: it weighs corner control, edge safety, and how many replies each side has, then looks several moves into the future to avoid short-term traps. Hard mode also calculates the endgame exactly once few squares remain, so it rarely misplays the final moves.

Easy plays many random legal moves and barely looks ahead, so mistakes go largely unpunished — a good mode for learning the rules. Normal looks a few moves ahead and plays sound positional Reversi. Hard searches deeper, prioritises corners and mobility from the first move, and solves the last stretch of the game exactly, making it a genuinely difficult opponent.

Prioritise the corners — they can never be recaptured once taken. Avoid playing the squares diagonally or directly adjacent to an empty corner, since that often hands the corner to your opponent. Value having more legal moves over flipping the most discs on any single turn, and once the board is nearly full, switch to counting discs exactly rather than judging position.

Flipping a large number of discs on one turn is not automatically strong — the resulting board often opens a corner or a dangerous edge square for the reply. The computer weighs long-term position over raw disc count, especially on Normal and Hard.

The current streak counts consecutive wins on one difficulty level. Losing or tying a match on that difficulty resets its current streak to zero. Your longest streak on that difficulty is kept as a separate best and is never erased by a loss.

Your wins, losses, ties, best winning margin, fastest win, and win streak are saved locally in your browser for Easy, Normal, and Hard separately. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. Because the save lives on the device, a different phone, a new browser profile, or cleared site data looks like a fresh start.

Yes. The board is built for touch: tap any highlighted square to place your disc. The full 8x8 board fits on one portrait screen, and starting a new match is instant with no page reload.

The game needs a connection to load the page the first time. After that, some browsers may keep the tab playable without a network, but there is no dedicated offline app or installer.

Open Stats from the game menu and use Reset progress, then confirm with the second tap. That clears wins, losses, ties, best margin, fastest win, and streaks for Easy, Normal, and Hard on this browser. It cannot be undone.

Any current browser with JavaScript: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop, plus their mobile versions. If the board does not respond, update the browser, allow scripts for this site, and reload.