How to play Nine Men's Morris
- Choose the computer (Easy, Medium or Hard) or a friend on the same screen. Each player has nine pieces, and you take turns placing them on any empty point. White goes first; against the computer you pick your color.
- Three of your pieces in a straight line along the board’s lines make a mill. Each new mill lets you take one of the other player’s pieces, though not one that’s in a mill unless all of them are.
- When all pieces are placed, take turns moving a piece along a line to the next empty point. Opening a mill and closing it again counts as a new mill.
- With flying on, a player down to three pieces can move a piece to any empty point. You win when the other player has only two pieces or can’t move.
Strategy tips
- Don’t rush to make mills while placing. A mill early is good, but placing pieces where they can move freely later matters as much. Corners have fewer neighbors than midpoints.
- Build a double mill. A piece that can slide back and forth between two mills makes a new mill every turn. It’s the strongest setup in the game.
- Block two-in-a-rows. Watch the computer’s lines with two pieces and an empty point, and fill the gap.
- Keep your pieces mobile. In the moving phase, a player with no legal move loses, so avoid getting boxed in.
About the game
Nine Men’s Morris is one of the oldest board games still played. Boards have been found carved into stone and wood from Roman times, and it was a popular game in medieval Europe. Ralph Gasser solved it by computer in 1993: with perfect play from both sides, it’s a draw.