reversi.site Play

About reversi.site

reversi.site is a free Reversi game for your browser. Play the computer, play online or play a friend on the same device – no account and no ads.

Who makes reversi.site

reversi.site is made and run by Opak Oy, a small independent developer in Finland. We wanted a Reversi site that opens instantly, works well on a phone and doesn't hide the game behind ads or sign-up forms.

  • Free, with no ads and no account. Open the board and play.
  • Analytics only if you allow it. The game works fully without it. Read our privacy policy.
  • Your stats stay on your device. If you choose to keep them, they are saved in your browser and never sent to us.

What you can do here

  • Play the computer at five levels, from Beginner to Expert.
  • Play online. Online matchmaking pairs you with another player who is searching at the same time. If no other player is available, you are matched with our computer opponent instead, and the game tells you so before it starts. You can also invite a friend to a private room with a link. Online games have 30 seconds per move (60 seconds for your first move).
  • Play a friend on the same device.
  • Take the daily challenge, Impossible Comeback. You start far behind in a position that can still be won. Can you find the way?
  • Learn to play with an interactive guide, then read the rules and our strategy guides.

reversi.site works on phones, tablets and computers, and you can add it to your home screen.

How the computer plays

Our computer opponent is a classic game-playing program. It looks ahead through possible moves and judges positions with rules written by people. No machine learning is involved. It varies its choices a little, so that games don't repeat.

  • Beginner – still learning, makes mistakes
  • Easy – knows corners are good
  • Medium – plays solid moves
  • Hard – thinks several moves ahead
  • Expert – our strongest computer

Why Reversi?

  • Simple rules. There is only one kind of move: place a disc so that it traps a line of your opponent's discs, and they flip to your color. The rules fit on one page.
  • Deep strategy. Corners, mobility and timing matter more than how many discs you have right now. Top players study openings and endgames for years.
  • Quick games. A game has at most 60 moves, so a casual game usually takes 5–15 minutes. Online games have 30 seconds per move (60 seconds for your first move).
  • No luck. Both players see the whole board, and there are no dice or hidden cards.
  • Big turnarounds. A player who seems far behind can still win, because a few good moves can flip much of the board.

History of Reversi

Reversi was invented in England in 1883. Two Englishmen, Lewis Waterman and John W. Mollett, each claimed to be its inventor. In early versions the board started empty, and the players placed the first four discs in the center themselves.

In 1971 Goro Hasegawa patented a version with a fixed start in Japan: four discs in the center, and Black moves first. In 1973 Tsukuda Original began selling it under the brand name Othello®. It became a worldwide hit, and the first World Othello Championship was held in Tokyo in 1977.

Computers have been part of the story for a long time. In 1997 the program Logistello beat the reigning world champion, Takeshi Murakami, 6–0. In 2023 researcher Hiroki Takizawa reported a computer proof that perfect play from the standard start ends in a draw.

reversi.site uses the modern standard start: four discs in the center, and Black moves first. It is also the start used in international tournaments. The game of Reversi itself is free for anyone to play.

Further reading

Othello® is a registered trademark of MegaHouse Corporation. reversi.site is independent and not affiliated with MegaHouse or the World Othello Federation.

Add Reversi to your website

Teachers, clubs and bloggers can add a free game against the computer to their own pages. The embedded game has no ads and sets no cookies. Copy this code into your page:

<iframe src="https://reversi.site/embed/?level=easy" width="420" height="480" style="border:0" title="Play Reversi" loading="lazy"></iframe>

To change the level, replace easy with beginner, medium, hard or expert.

The game loads from reversi.site, so your visitors' browsers connect to our server. We count embedded games only as anonymous daily totals. See our privacy policy.

Contact

Found a bug, have an idea or a question? We would like to hear from you.