Nine Men's Morris
Play Nine Men's Morris free online. Form mills of three to capture your opponent’s men in this ancient strategy game.
One of the oldest board games still played. Each player has nine men. Take turns placing them on the board's 24 points, then slide them along the lines. Every time you line up three in a row — a mill — you remove one of your opponent's men. Reduce your opponent to two men, or leave them with no legal move, to win. Play against the computer or a friend on the same device.
- Category: Board
- Difficulty: medium
- Players: 1 player vs computer, or 2 players on one device
- Typical game: about 10 minutes
- Works on: desktop, phones and tablets
How to play Nine Men's Morris
Objective: Capture your opponent’s men until they have only two left, or block them so they cannot move.
- Placing: take turns putting one man on any empty point until both players have placed all nine.
- Moving: slide one of your men along a line to an adjacent empty point.
- Three of your men in a straight line form a mill. Each new mill lets you remove one opponent man.
- You cannot remove a man that is in a mill unless all of that player’s men are in mills.
- When you are down to three men you may fly: move to any empty point.
- A player with two men, or no legal move, loses. Fifty moves without a capture is a draw.
Scoring
A win scores 100 points plus 20 for each of your men still in play.
Difficulty levels
Easy: the computer looks one move ahead and sometimes plays randomly. Normal: three moves. Hard: five moves.
Tips
- In the placing phase, spread out and keep your men mobile.
- A “running mill” — a man that can step in and out of a mill each turn — captures every other move.
- Block your opponent’s two-in-a-rows before they become mills.
Controls
Keyboard
- Tab between points, Enter or Space to select
Mouse
- Click a point to place; click a man then a point to move
Touch
- Tap a point to place; tap a man then a point to move
Nine Men's Morris achievements
- First Mill – Capture a man against the computer.
- Morris Winner – Beat the computer.
- Untouched – Beat the computer without losing a man.
- Master of Mills – Beat the computer on Hard.
- Village Champion – Beat the computer 10 times.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nine Men's Morris free to play?
Yes. Nine Men's Morris is completely free on GamesPlayLand, with no download, no sign-up and no purchases.
How do you play Nine Men's Morris?
Capture your opponent’s men until they have only two left, or block them so they cannot move. Placing: take turns putting one man on any empty point until both players have placed all nine. Moving: slide one of your men along a line to an adjacent empty point.
Can I play Nine Men's Morris on my phone?
Yes. Nine Men's Morris works in mobile browsers on phones and tablets, with no app to install. Tap a point to place; tap a man then a point to move.
Can I play Nine Men's Morris against the computer?
Yes. You play against a computer opponent that runs entirely in your browser, and the difficulty setting changes how strong it is.
Can two people play Nine Men's Morris?
Yes. Nine Men's Morris has a two-player mode for playing with a friend on the same device.
Does Nine Men's Morris save my high score?
Yes. Your personal best, statistics and achievements for Nine Men's Morris are saved in your browser automatically.
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