Reversi rules

Learn with Lyra

Rules of Reversi

Place a disc so it traps a line of your opponent’s discs between two of yours, and every trapped disc flips to your color. The board keeps changing until neither player can move.

The objective: Have more discs showing your color when play ends.

Lyra gestures with an open hand as she introduces Reversi.

Four discs in the middle

Reversi is played on an 8×8 board with discs that are black on one side and white on the other. The game starts with two discs of each color crossed in the four center squares.

Black always moves first. On your turn, you place one disc of your color on an empty square.

The starting position. The gold rings are Black’s four possible first moves.

Every move must trap something

You can only play on a square that traps at least one line of your opponent’s discs between the new disc and another of yours, with no gaps.

If a square doesn’t trap anything, you can’t play there, even if it’s next to other discs.

A black disc on the gold ring traps both white discs against the black one on the left.

Everything you trap flips

Every trapped disc flips to your color. That includes every line the new disc makes, in all eight directions: across, up and down, and on both diagonals.

You don’t get to choose which lines flip. One move can turn over discs in several directions at once.

“A big flip looks wonderful. Then you notice how many moves you just handed me.”

Lyra

Before

After

One black disc traps three lines, so three white discs flip.

No legal move means no turn

If you can’t trap anything anywhere on the board, you pass. Your turn is skipped and your opponent moves again. LarkSpark does this for you.

You can’t choose to pass. If you have a legal move, you have to make one.

White can’t trap anything here, so White’s turn is skipped and Black plays again.

A corner disc is yours for good

A disc in a corner can never be flipped, because no line can trap it from both sides. It’s a stable disc from the moment you play it.

That makes corners the most valuable squares on the board, and the squares right next to them risky, since playing there can give your opponent a way in.

This corner disc can’t be flipped for the rest of the game.

Count the discs

The game ends when the board is full, or when neither player has a legal move.

Then each player counts the discs showing their color. The higher count wins, and equal counts are a draw.

“Don’t count too early. The last few moves can swing the whole board.”

Lyra
A full board. Black has 36 discs and White has 28, so Black wins.

Playing on LarkSpark

On your turn, click or tap one of the marked legal squares and the flips happen for you.

You can play one of eight bots, send a friend a link, or get matched with another player online. In a timed game, running out of time loses the game.

  • Altair Level 1
  • Halley Level 2
  • Nova Level 3
  • Zhao Level 4
  • Juno Level 5
  • Lyra Level 6
  • Rigel Level 7
  • Orion Level 8
Your opponents, from friendliest to toughest.

Words to know

Look up flips, passes, stable discs and other terms in the Reversi Glossary.

Your turn in four checks

  1. Find a legal squareYour disc has to trap at least one opposing disc.
  2. Flip every lineAll the discs you trap flip, in every direction at once.
  3. Pass when stuckWith no legal move, your turn is skipped.
  4. Mind the cornersA corner disc can’t be flipped, so don’t open one for your opponent.