10 Games Like Reversi to Play Free Online (2026)

Reversi was invented in England in the 1880s, with Lewis Waterman and John W. Mollett each claiming credit. A version with fixed starting rules was introduced as Othello by Goro Hasegawa in Japan in the early 1970s and became a worldwide hit. Simple rules and deep strategy made it a tournament game with a world championship held since 1977. Here are 12 free games like Reversi, all playable in your browser, that share its flip-and-conquer board strategy DNA.

Key takeaways

The closest match to Reversi is Reversi itself on a smaller board: our 6×6 version keeps every rule and plays much faster.
For the same “territory flips back and forth” feeling, try Hex, Gomoku and Mancala next.
Every game on this list is two-player, turn-based and has no hidden information, just like Reversi.
All 12 run in the browser with a computer opponent, and most also offer a 2 Players mode for one shared screen.

1. Reversi (Othello)

The classic 8×8 board. Flip opponent discs by sandwiching them. Play against the computer Play Reversi (Othello).

Our version starts from the standard four-disc center, and you play Black and move first. Golden dots mark every legal move, so beginners never have to hunt for one. Pick Easy, Medium or Hard for the CPU, switch to 2 Players for a game at one screen, and use Hint or Undo while you learn.

2. Reversi 6×6

Smaller-board Reversi. Quicker games with fewer squares to think about. Same strategy, different scale Play Reversi 6×6.

Because the board is smaller, the computer opponent searches more moves ahead than on 8×8 at each difficulty level, so Hard here is a stiff test. Corners and edges arrive within a few moves, which makes this the fastest way to practice the corner rules covered below.

3. Chess

The benchmark for two-player abstract strategy. Different mechanic; same depth Play Chess.

Our chess board shows legal moves when you click a piece, keeps a move history, and offers three CPU levels plus Undo and a board flip.

4. Checkers

Move-and-capture; forced jumps; kinging. Different rules; same family Play Checkers.

Mandatory jumps give checkers a Reversi-like quality: a single move can force your opponent into a sequence they did not choose. In our version multi-jumps chain, and there are vs CPU and 2 Players modes.

5. Gomoku

Five in a row on a 15×15 board. Different mechanic; same long-term planning required Play Gomoku.

Like Reversi, Gomoku is played with black and white stones on a grid and rewards spotting threats several moves early. You can play the CPU on three levels or a friend in 2 Players mode.

6. Connect Four

Drop-pieces grid game with line-up-4 goal. Simpler but related Play Connect Four.

Our version uses the standard 7-column, 6-row grid. Connect Four has been solved by computer: with perfect play the first player can force a win, which is a good reason to alternate who starts.

7. Tic-Tac-Toe

The simplest abstract strategy game. Same family at the base level Play Tic-Tac-Toe.

Try our “Impossible” CPU setting: it never loses, and best play from both sides always ends in a draw.

8. Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe

Nested 9×9 tic-tac-toe. Strategic depth at meta-board level Play Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe.

The rule that your move sends your opponent to a specific mini-board is the closest thing on this list to Reversi’s mobility battle: good players restrict where the other side is allowed to play.

9. Hex

Connect two opposite sides with chain of stones. Pure two-player abstract strategy Play Hex.

Hex was invented by the Danish mathematician Piet Hein in the 1940s and later rediscovered independently by John Nash. A game of Hex can never end in a draw. Our version lets you choose a 7×7, 9×9, 11×11 or 13×13 board; start small and work up.

10. Dots and Boxes

Connect dots to claim boxes. Different mechanic; same chain-counting endgame Play Dots and Boxes.

Dots and Boxes shares Reversi’s parity thinking: late in the game, who is forced to move first into a long chain decides the result. Pick a grid from 4×4 dots up to 7×7.

11. Mancala

Mancala is a family of sowing games played across Africa, the Middle East and Asia for centuries. Our version uses six pits per side with four stones each: pick up a pit, sow counterclockwise, take an extra turn if your last stone lands in your store, and capture the opposite pit if it lands in an empty pit of yours.

Like Reversi, a single move can swing a lot of material, and counting ahead matters more than instinct. Play the CPU on Easy, Medium or Hard, or switch to 2 Players Play Mancala.

12. Nim

Take any number of stones from one heap; whoever takes the last stone wins, or loses in the misère variant. Nim is a tiny game with a complete mathematical solution, and our Hard CPU plays it. It is a short, sharp way to practice the same “leave your opponent without a good move” thinking that wins Reversi games Play Nim.

Games like Reversi compared

Game	Board on our site	Closest link to Reversi	Modes
Reversi	8×8	The original	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players, Hint
Reversi 6×6	6×6	Same rules, faster games	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players
Gomoku	15×15	Stones on a grid, threat reading	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players
Hex	7×7 to 13×13	Territory and blocking	vs CPU, 2 Players
Mancala	2 × 6 pits	Big material swings, counting	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players
Dots and Boxes	4×4 to 7×7 dots	Endgame parity	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players
Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe	9 mini-boards	Restricting opponent moves	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players
Checkers	8×8	Forced sequences	vs CPU (3 levels), 2 Players

How to choose your next Reversi alternative

Want the same game, faster: Reversi 6×6. Every principle transfers directly.
Want a new game with the same feel: Hex or Gomoku. Both are stone-on-grid games where position beats material.
Want to count instead of visualize: Mancala or Nim. Both reward calculating exact outcomes.
Want something heavier: Chess or Checkers, the long-established tournament games.
Playing with a friend on one device: anything here except Chess, which on our site is vs CPU only.

Reversi vs Othello: what’s the difference?

Mechanically identical. The legal differences: Reversi is a 19th-century English game; Othello is the trademarked 1970s Japanese version, now owned by the toy company MegaHouse.

Tournament Othello uses a fixed initial position (the four central discs in a specific arrangement); some Reversi variants let players place the initial discs. Otherwise, same game.

Why is Reversi so deep?

Two reasons. Each move changes multiple cells — a single placement can flip a dozen discs. This makes evaluating positions hard. Mobility matters more than material — the player with more legal moves usually wins, even if they have fewer discs. This counterintuitive principle is one of the first things strong players learn, and one of the hardest to apply.

Three ideas that carry over to other games

Stable positions win. A corner disc can never be flipped. In Hex and Gomoku the equivalent is a stone that cannot be cut off or blocked.
Don’t give away the key square. In Reversi, playing on the square diagonally next to an empty corner (the “X-square”) often hands your opponent that corner. In Dots and Boxes, drawing a box’s third side hands it over the same way.
Parity decides endgames. Who gets the last move in a region matters in Reversi, Dots and Boxes and Nim alike.

For a full walkthrough, see our guide to mastering Othello and Reversi. For the history of the wider family, Wikipedia’s abstract strategy game article is a good starting point.

Frequently asked questions

What game is most like Reversi?

Othello, which is the same game under a trademarked name with a fixed starting position. After that, Reversi on a 6×6 board is the closest variant, and Gomoku and Hex are the closest different games.

Can I play Reversi online for free against the computer?

Yes. Our Reversi runs in the browser with Easy, Medium and Hard CPU levels, plus Hint and Undo buttons. There is also a 2 Players mode for playing a friend on the same screen.

Is Reversi the same as Othello?

The rules are the same. Othello is the trademarked version from the 1970s and always starts from the same four-disc center position; some older Reversi rules let players place the first discs themselves.

Is Reversi a solved game?

Smaller boards are much easier for computers to analyze than 8×8. For the standard 8×8 board, a 2023 computer analysis reported that perfect play by both sides ends in a draw. That has no practical effect on human games, which are still decided by mistakes around corners and edges.

Who moves first in Reversi?

Black moves first in standard Othello rules, and in our version you play Black. If a player has no legal move they pass, and the game ends when neither side can move.

12 Games Like Reversi — Free Strategy Board Games Online