Best Free Reversi Game

 
In a Hurry?
  Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide
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 or here for simple illustrations of the rules. And see 6 Tips to master the game more effectively.

Discussion

Magic ReversiMagic Reversi is a recommendable program with a simple, appealing and intuitive user interface, complete with vivid 32-bit animation graphics. It gives you a choice of board sizes (8x8 or 10x10) and comes with two built-in engines, 'Normal' and 'Advanced'. With either engine, you can set 10 levels of strength, ranging from 'Baby' to 'Merlin'.

Various options are available such as redo/undo moves, showing available moves, setting sound, music, cursor, border, animation, etc.

You can also ask for hints, save games, or play with remote players using local network or Internet etc.

 

WZebraA game to improve your skills? WZebra is an excellent program to enhance strategies in playing Reversi.

The program helps you to analyze a better move by displaying evaluation results on board. It also allows you to set up disc positions, load opening books and learn from each game it plays.

WZebra has a strong built-in engine with adjustable strength, ranging from beginner to expert.

Many other features are included such as redo/undo moves, preview moves, save games, import/export games, adjustable 3D view angle and window size. Disc flip animation is included, but the effect isn't preferable to Magic Reversi's.

 

OthelloFor basic play with good animation effects, try the Othello program developed by SOS Software. This program allows you to play full screen or windowed, with adjustable graphic display resolutions. It has transparency settings, adjustable sound effects and music volumes.

Choose any of four engine strengths, start a game with the computer opponent, and experience vivid flipping animation over captured discs.

On the downside, this program does not include extra features such as undo/redo moves, save games, or edit disc positions, which are needed for analysis of play.

 

Want a small, portable program just to play the game?

Weighing in at 127 KB, Mike Hall's Reversi is a good choice with a nice clean user interface. It has a built-in engine with 4 levels of strength, undo/redo and animate moves. Saving games is not included.

Another small program is Edge Reversi with a download size of 338 KB. Simple user interface with no animation effects. Undo/redo moves and saving games are included. You can limit computer's moves by time or search depth.

Both these programs are portable: after downloading, just unzip to any folder you choose, click the executable, and start a game.

 

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.

You can also play Reversi with humans online. One popular option is to go to Yahoo! Games - Reversi and log in with a Yahoo ID, or go to Playok.com - Reversi and log in to play among other members (free registration required).

 
6 Tips to master the game more effectively...

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?
 
Have Your Say
You are invited to share and discuss your views in our freeware forum.  To post in the forum you need to register first but that's quick and immediate. Alternatively, anyone can leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

 

Please help us by rating this review

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:
Quick Selection Guide

Magic Reversi    Rating 8 of 10

Pros   Good user interface, built-in two engines, 10 computer levels, selectable board sizes, show available moves, hints, redo/undo moves, save game, play on network.
Cons   No support for opening books or setting up positions.
Developer Home Page   http://www.dwebplace.com/games.htm
Download link   Download link 1  Download link 2
File Size   2.17 MB   Version 3.5   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Win 98 to XP

WZebra    Rating 9 of 10  Gizmo's Top Pick

Pros   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.
Cons   Poorer animation effects, no support for playing on network.
Developer Home Page   http://radagast.se/othello/
Download link   http://radagast.se/othello/download.html
File Size   4.91 MB   Version 4.2.4   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Win 95 and higher.
Info   Support 16 languages.

Othello    Rating 7 of 10

Pros   Four levels of engine strength, vivid animation, play full screen or windowed, adjustable graphic resolutions, sound and music volume, etc.
Cons   Disallow undo/redo moves, can't save games or edit disc positions for analysis of the game, no support for playing on network.
Developer Home Page   http://www.sossoftware.co.uk/freebies/othello/othello.html
Download link   http://www.sossoftware.co.uk/freebies/othello/othello.html
File Size   4.17 MB   Version 1.04   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Win 98 to Vista
Editor

This article is maintained by volunteer editor Jojoyee. Registered site users are allowed to edit and improve this article wiki-style.

Tags

free reversi, computer reversi, online reversi, free othello, computer othello, freeware, board game, free computer game, free reversi game

5
Average: 5 (7 votes)
Your rating: None

Another small portable with a clean interface is FlipperReversi (worked for me on Vista)
http://www.gamercafe.com/checkers/flipper.html

Thanks for the info. A small program at a tiny size comparable to the other two. It doesn't allow undo moves though.

MagicReversi works for me on Vista. I prefer WZebra though.

Post new comment

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <b> <address> <blockquote> <br> <caption> <center> <code> <dd> <del> <div> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr> <i> <img> <li> <ol> <p> <pre> <span> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <tbody> <td> <tfoot> <th> <thead> <tr> <u> <ul> <tr>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • [node:123] - insert full text (themed by theme('node'))
    [node:123 body] - insert node's body
    [node:123 teaser] - insert node's teaser
    [node:123 link] - insert link to node
    [node:123 collapsed] - insert collapsed node's body
  • You may use [view:viewname] tags to display listings of nodes.

More information about formatting options