Nine Men's Morris
Make mills, take pieces. Fly at three. Single game.
Nine Men's Morris is an ancient strategy board game, also called Mill, in which two players place nine pieces each, then slide them. Make three in a row to remove a rival piece, and win by leaving them with two pieces or no move.
Two games in one: first you place pieces like noughts and crosses with teeth, where every line of three takes a rival piece; then you slide them in a siege. Get down to three pieces and you can fly anywhere, which turns a lost game into a scramble.
Also known as Mill, Mills, Merels, Morris, Cowboy checkers.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- Single game
- Length
- About 3 to 5 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Nine Men's Morris: quick rules
About 3 to 5 minutes for a single game of Nine Men's Morris; 30 to 90 seconds on the Three Men's Morris board. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Take turns placing your pieces on empty points.
- 2Three in a line is a mill: take one of their pieces.
- 3Pieces in a mill are safe, unless all of them are.
- 4With your hand empty, slide along the lines. At three pieces you can fly.
- 5Leave them with two pieces or no move to win. The loser starts next.
Nine Men's Morris rules
Setup
- The board is three nested squares joined at the middle of each side: 24 points. Each player has 9 pieces in hand.
- Who starts the first game is decided by a coin toss, and a sticker names who starts ("You start" or "Bot starts" against the bot). After that, the loser of a game starts the next, and on a rematch the loser of the last match starts.
- A 3-2-1 countdown starts every game.
Placing
- While you have pieces in hand, your turn is to place one on any empty point.
- Pieces only ever stand on the points, and later move along the drawn lines.
Sliding and flying
- Once your hand is empty, your turn is to slide one of your pieces along a line to the next empty point.
- When you're down to exactly three pieces, you can fly: move a piece to any empty point on the board.
Mills and taking pieces
- A mill is three of your pieces in a line along one side of a square or along one of the four lines joining the squares.
- Make a mill by placing, sliding or flying, and you take one of your rival's pieces off the board straight away.
- A rival piece that is part of a mill is safe, unless every one of their pieces is in a mill; then you can take any of them.
- Moving a piece out of a mill and back in again counts as a new mill each time.
Winning
- Your rival loses when they are down to two pieces, counting the board and their hand, or when they have no legal move at the start of their turn.
- The match is a single game, best of 3 or best of 5, and ends as soon as one player has a majority.
Ties and replays
- If 50 slides go by with no piece taken (40 on Six, 30 on Three), the game is a stand-off and is replayed: it doesn't count, and the other player starts. Taking a piece resets the count.
- A match never ends drawn.
Hints against the bot
- Playing the bot, you can spend 20 coins on your turn for a hint. It rings the best point, piece or piece to take for 2 seconds, without playing it.
- There are no hints against a friend, online or in a tournament.
Boards
- Nine Men's Morris
- Three nested squares, 24 points, 9 pieces each, with flying at three. The default.
- Six Men's Morris
- Two nested squares, 16 points, 6 pieces each. Mills run along the sides of the squares, and there is no flying.
- Three Men's Morris
- A 3 by 3 grid with both diagonals and 3 pieces each. The first mill wins. A gentle board for beginners.
Tips to win at Nine Men's Morris
- 1While placing, spread out and claim the points where lines cross. The middle of each side links two squares and gives your pieces room to move later.
- 2Don't rush to make mills early. Pieces that can still move matter more once the sliding starts.
- 3Build a pair of lines that share one point, so a single move threatens two mills and only one can be blocked.
- 4Aim for a running mill: a piece that slides out of a mill and back in takes a piece every second turn.
- 5When your rival is down to three and can fly, keep every open line of yours blocked, because they can land anywhere.
Where Nine Men's Morris comes from
Nine Men's Morris dates back at least to the Roman Empire, and its board has been found carved into stone in many places across Europe. It was widely played in medieval Europe, and Shakespeare mentions the “nine men's morris” in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- To place, tap any ringed empty point.
- To slide or fly, tap one of your ringed pieces, then a pulsing point. Tap the piece again to put it down, or another piece to switch.
- After a mill, the rival pieces you can take wiggle: tap one to take it.
- Either player can touch the board, but only the mover's legal targets respond.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Three (3 each)Six (6 each)Nine (9 each) (default) | Which Morris board you play. |
| Games | Single (default)Best of 3Best of 5 | How many games decide the match. |
| Corner diagonals | OnOff (default) | Extra, Six and Nine only. Lines join the corners of the squares: extra mill lines on Nine, extra paths only on Six. |
| Double mill takes two | OnOff (default) | Extra, Six and Nine only. One move that closes two mills at once takes two rival pieces. |
| Call-outs | On (default)Off | Extra. "Mill!" on every mill, "Mill ×2" and up for mills on back-to-back turns, with a streak flame on your dock. No effect on the rules. |
Play Nine Men's Morris against the bot
The bot plays Blue and sees only the board and both players' pieces in hand. It weighs pieces, half-built mills and room to move, thinks for a moment before each turn and pauses briefly before taking a piece so you can see what it took.
Easy
Looks only at its own move and plays a random one half the time.
Normal
Checks your best reply before choosing, with the occasional random move.
Hard
Looks a turn further ahead, trying mills first, and rarely makes a random move.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- PlannedOnline play for Nine Men's Morris is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always the Nine board, a single game, with the base rules and Call-outs on, and hints are off.
- Hints
- Stuck against the bot? A hint lights up the strongest move for a few coins. Never with a friend, online or in a tournament.
Coming soon
- Online play. Play Nine Men's Morris against a friend online, with a turn timer and reconnect. Planned, not available yet.
How it feels
- A wooden clack as a piece is placed, a slide as it moves and a whoosh as it flies on an arc.
- A chime as the three pieces of a mill pulse, and a whoosh as the taken piece spins off toward the taker's end.
- A rising chime for a mill streak, and a thud and shake when a side is stuck.
Accessibility
- Ownership shows by end of the board, the dots for pieces in hand and rings, never colour alone.
- One finger and one tap per decision, with large touch areas.
- Three Men's Morris is a gentle board for beginners.
- There is no clock on a turn when you play on one phone or against the bot.
Nine Men's Morris questions
Take turns placing your 9 pieces on the board, then slide them along the lines. Every time you make three in a row, a mill, you take one of your rival's pieces. Leave them with two pieces or no legal move to win.
When you have placed all your pieces and are down to exactly three on the board, you may move a piece to any empty point instead of sliding.
No, pieces in a mill are safe, unless every one of the rival's pieces is in a mill. Then you can take any of them.
If 50 slides go by with no piece taken, the game is a stand-off and is replayed with the other player starting, so a match never ends drawn.
Yes. Nine Men's Morris in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Yes. The bot plays Blue and sees only the board and both players' pieces in hand. Choose Easy, Normal or Hard.
Play Nine Men's Morris on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
