Best Free Reversi Game

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Last updated by site.editor on 25. November 2020 - 11:59

Introduction

Reversi is an endlessly fascinating board game for 2 players, which first came on the scene in the late 19th century. The standardized modern version is marketed as Othello under the slogan A minute to learn... A lifetime to master. True enough...

The rules are deceptively simple. The game starts with four discs—two for each player—already criss-crossed in the center of a standard 8x8 board (some programs allow you to select other board sizes, such as 10x10).

The players take turns to place a disc on the board, with 'black' generally going first. Each time, you have to sandwich one or more lines of your opponent's discs  between two of your own pieces (whether vertically, horizontally or diagonally). Then the sandwiched discs change color and become yours.

The game continues until neither player can legally sandwich any more line(s) of discs. At that point, the player who has more discs on the board is the winner. It's as simple as that.

Or is it? Play is remarkably complex and calls for sharp long-range thinking. Indeed, Reversi can be as much of a challenge as chess. And, as the name of the game implies, quick reversals of 'fortune' are common.

If you have not played Reversi (Othello) before, see here for simple illustrations of the rules.

See Also: 6 Tips To Master the Reversi Game at the end of this article.

 

Rated Products

WZebra  

An excellent program to enhance strategies in playing Reversi.

Our Rating: 
4.5
License: Free (Open source)
Display evaluation results on each move, setup games, load opening books, adjustable engine strength, save/import/export games, adjustable 3D view and window size, etc.
Poorer animation effects, no support for playing on network.
Read full review...

Magic Reversi  

A recommendable program with a simple, appealing and intuitive user interface.

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free
Good user interface, built-in two engines, 10 computer levels, select board sizes, show available moves, hints, redo/undo moves, save game, play on network.
No support for opening books or setting up positions.
Read full review...

KReversi  

A Reversi board game for Linux with the K Desktop Environment

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free
7-level of difficulty, clean and helpful interface, show legal moves and last move, undo moves, hints, animation, etc.
No support for network play, opening books, saving games and setting up positions.
Read full review...

Mike Hall's Reversi  

A light and portable Reversi game with animated moves and 4-level difficulties.

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free
Light and portable, nice and clean user interface, built-in engine with 4 levels of strength, undo/redo and animate moves.`
Saving games is not included.
Read full review...

Othello  

A Reversi game for basic play with good animation effects and adjustable graphic display resolutions.

Our Rating: 
3
License: Free
Four levels of engine strength, vivid animation, play full screen or windowed, adjustable graphic resolutions, sound and music volume, etc.
Disallow undo/redo moves, can't save games or edit disc positions for analysis of the game, no support for playing on network.
Read full review...

Online Reversi

These are some good choices to play online Reversi without the need to install any program.

  • Othello Game at hewgill.com is a good choice. You can challenge the computer opponent by setting the features which include 3 levels of strength, undo moves, highlight valid moves, hints and animation effects.

  • Reversi Lounge lets you play Reversi with humans online. You can select a server from the list, click Launch button to open the lobby screen, select an empty chair at one of the tables and play online free against the human players in the lobby.

  • Playok.com - Reversi is another choice to log in and play among other members. It requires free registration.

  • Yahoo! Games - Reversi allows you to play Reversi online after you log in with a Yahoo ID.

 

Related Products and Links

Looking for a board game which has something in common with Reversi? Try Best Free Computer Go.

Other than that, you might want to check out these board games too:

 

6 Tips To Master the Reversi Game

To master the Reversi game more effectively, check out these 6 tips which are very useful.Evaluation of white's next move

  • Corners are key squares to control.
  • The squares next to the corners are bad.
  • Maximize the number of your moves so that the opponent's moves are reduced.
  • Early in the game, minimize your number of discs so that the number of moves increases.
  • Get more Reversi strategy advice, such as here.
  • Try 'practice sessions' with WZebra, and watch the program evaluate the best move.
In the position on the right, WZebra reckons White's best move is to occupy the square marked '+12' (the worst being '-34'). What do you think?

 

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