How to Play Othello

How to Begin

Pick a mode from Game Mode: Human vs Human (two players share the screen), Human vs AI (choose your color and an AI difficulty), or AI vs AI (set a difficulty for each side and watch). Press New Game to start. Black always moves first.

Controls

Turn Order

Black moves first, then turns alternate. If you have no legal move, your turn is automatically passed and the status bar announces it.

Movement and Flipping

A move is legal only if the new disc outflanks at least one enemy disc: a straight line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) of enemy discs must sit between your new disc and another disc of your color. All outflanked discs immediately flip to your color.

Scoring

Your score is simply the number of discs of your color on the board, shown live in the side panel scorecards.

Winning

The game ends when neither player has a legal move (usually when the board is full). The player with more discs wins.

Losing and Draws

Fewer discs at the end means a loss; equal counts are a draw. The result panel shows the final count.

Saving and Restarting

There is no save feature — games are short. Press New Game at any time to restart, or use Undo to step backwards instead of restarting.