Reversi — Printable Board

The classic disc-flipping strategy game on an 8×8 board. Outflank your opponent's pieces to flip them to your color — most discs at the end wins.

What you need

The printed 8×8 board below
64 two-sided discs — one color per side (reversible discs, or coins played heads/tails)
Two players

Luck Lab Board Game Token Trays, 6-Pack Folding Silicone Swirl Color Bowls

Bits Trays / Resource Token Cups (set)

Small stackable cups that keep meeples, cubes, and coins reachable and off the board.

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Print at 100% scale. The same board works for checkers and chess.

Setup

Start with four discs in the four center squares: place two of each color on the two diagonals, so each color sits on opposite corners of the center 2×2. One player is "light", the other "dark". Dark moves first.

The goal

Have more discs of your color on the board than your opponent when no more moves are possible. The board flips back and forth all game, so a big lead can vanish — it’s anyone’s game until the end.

Making a move

On your turn, place one disc of your color on an empty square so that it "outflanks" a straight line of one or more of your opponent’s discs — meaning your new disc and another of your discs bracket them, with no gaps.

Outflanking works in any straight line: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.
Every opponent disc you bracket flips to your color — and a single move can flip discs in several directions at once.
You must flip at least one disc on every move. If you can’t, you forfeit your turn.

Passing and ending

If you have no legal move that flips at least one disc, you pass and your opponent plays again. When neither player can move — usually when the board is full — the game ends.

Winning

Count the discs. Whoever has more of their color on the board wins; equal counts are a draw. Corners are powerful because a disc in a corner can never be outflanked — grabbing them is the heart of Reversi strategy.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between Reversi and Othello?

They’re essentially the same game. Reversi is the older, public-domain version; "Othello" is a trademarked branded edition with a fixed starting setup. The rules here are the classic Reversi rules, playable with any two-color discs.

What can you use for Reversi pieces?

Anything two-sided with a different color on each face: dedicated reversible discs, or ordinary coins played heads-up for one player and tails-up for the other. You’ll want up to 64 to fill the board.

Why are corners so important in Reversi?

A disc placed in a corner can never be outflanked or flipped, so it’s permanently yours and anchors lines of your color. Strong players angle to take corners and avoid giving their opponent easy access to them.

Rules written by The Cardboard Shelf for this classic public-domain game. Print and share freely.