Home The games Nine Men’s Morris
Strategy · two players
Nine Men’s Morris
The old mill game on three nested squares. Place nine men each, then slide them along the lines; three in a row is a mill and takes an opposing piece. Play the computer on three levels, or a friend on the same screen.
Opponent
Computer
A friend, same screen
How to play
Each player starts with nine men. Take turns placing them on empty spots; once all are down, slide one man per turn along a line to a neighbouring empty spot.
Three of your men in a straight line along one of the drawn lines make a mill. Each new mill lets you remove one opposing man that is not itself part of a mill (if all are in mills, any will do).
Down to three men you may jump to any empty spot. A player with only two men left, or no legal move, loses the game.
Worth knowing
During the placing phase, mobility matters more than a quick mill: men on the middle ring with four neighbours are hard to block.
A “running mill” — two mills sharing a man that can swing between them — takes a piece every move. Set one up, or stop one early.