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Nine Men's Morris
Form mills to remove opponent pieces
- 2 players
- 10–20 min
- DifficultyMedium
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Top players
Full leaderboardHow to play
- Place pieces, then move them along lines
- Form a row of 3 (a mill) to remove enemy piece
- When down to 3 pieces, you can fly anywhere
- Block opponent or reduce to 2 pieces to win
Questions
Reduce your opponent to two pieces (so they cannot form mills) or block all their pieces so they cannot move.
The board has 24 intersection points arranged in three concentric squares connected by lines. Each player has 9 pieces of their color. The board starts empty.
Win by reducing your opponent to two pieces, or by blocking all their pieces so they cannot make a legal move.
Phase 1 - Placement: Players alternate placing one piece on any empty point until all 18 pieces are on the board. Forming a mill (three pieces in a row along a line) allows you to remove one opponent's piece. Pieces in a mill cannot be removed unless no other pieces are available.
Control intersection points that belong to multiple potential mills. During placement, prioritize positions that can form multiple mills. Keep your pieces connected and mobile; isolated pieces are vulnerable.
Nine Men's Morris is one of the oldest known board games, with boards carved into ancient Egyptian temples and the roof slabs of the Kurna temple (c. 1400 BCE). It was extremely popular in medieval Europe.