How to play Othello

Learn the rules to the board game Othello quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.

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RULES:
The object of this 2 player game is to have the majority of your colored disks face up on the board at the end of the game. Setup. Layout the board and place 4 disks, 2 white side up and 2 black side up in the center of the board as shown. Give each player 30 disks. 1 player plays as white and the other as black. The player playing black goes first, then turns alternate.

On your turn you must place 1 disk on any empty space on the board and outflank your opponent. To outflank, means to have your disks on either side of a continuous straight line of your opponent’s disks. This line can be any number of disks long and can horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. When you place a disk so that you have outflanked your opponent’s disks, you then flip the outflanked disks over to your color. You are allowed to outflank multiple lines in a single turn.

If you are unable to outflank your opponent on your turn, then you are not allowed to play and you must skip your turn. If you can play, then you must play. Disks may only be outflanked as a direct result of a move and must be in a direct line of the placed disk. In this example these 2 white disks are not flipped. An outflank may not skip over your own colored disk to outflank more disks. Only the disks in the immediate outflank are captured.

All outflanked disks must be flipped. You may not chose to only flip some of them. If you flip over the wrong disk, and your opponent hasn’t moved yet, you may fix the error. If your opponent has already moved, then you may not fix the error. Once a disk is placed on a square it may never be removed or moved to another square. If you run out of disks to place, and you still have a legal move, then your opponent must give you some of theirs to use. When it is no longer possible for either player to move, the game is over. Disks are counted and the player with the majority of their color showing is the winner.

You can also play multiple rounds and track points. The winner of the round receives points equal to the difference between the number of their opponent’s disks, subtracted from the number of their disks. Once players reach a predetermined point total, the game ends and the player with the most points is the winner.

There is an advantage to going first. For less experienced players to play with more experienced players, the less experienced player can go first. If you need a greater handicap, then the less experienced player may start the game with up to 4 disks already in play, one in corner of the board.

[jansustar]

this game used to be preinstalled on the tv when I was 6. it made no sense to me back then and seeing the actual rules brought some closure to the memories

[the_pickler]

I remember playing this game with my grandma all the time and I still have the same board that we played with

[Legendaryfiremedia]

I'm playing for the first time and this was an incredibly well done tutorial of the game. A lot of questions I might have had were all answered. Great job.

[anitav.]

This is the best tutorial - clear, no rapid change of frames, no wasted words - thank you so much! 😊

[OthelloAcademy]

This is a great instructional video on Othello rules :) Just one point to add on, the top right disc of the starting position should always be black from each players' perspective by tradition :)

[stutyaaa]

After watching your crazy good monopoly vids, i knew i can play this gane again! Thanks

[aundulxaldin]

I became addicted to this game playing it online, but I only became interested in the game as a whole because of, well... can anyone think of a *specific game* when I quote this?

_"A minute to pick up, a lifetime to perfect!"_

[markangeloflores]

After watching this video, I want to play and challenge my friends in our community. I'm an average player of Othello and still improving and discovering techniques. I guess my only strategy for any other level players like me is to outsmart and use deception concepts just like what I've realized and learn from Saboteur. Great and Unique game because this is the predecessor of my Tabletop boardgames and Puzzles 😁👍♥️🎲🎱🍩☕😃

[karenalex]

Thanks. This was on a mini arcade game we bought. I was wondering what it was called.

[WRnckz]

I never understood this game until you explained the outflanking

[k-berry]

I used to think Othello and Go were the same thing

[suptommy]

What happens to if you consume all of the other players discs

[Tomek]

Me: Are you securing the corners?
You: The corners? Why?
Me: Ahhhh, see, if you take all four corners...
Also me: You can flip the script on your opponent!

[zenbmonk]

Lost my second online game from a player in Japan. My record stands at 7-3-0. Have only gone up against 2 online players (Both from Japan) this year. Getting back into to it after not playing for about the past 2 years.

[OthelloAcademy]

Welcome to the World of Othello :) definitely a game that will activate your brain

[dirkkrohn]

We had this on the atari 2600 growing up. good times.

[thaecrasis]

Thanks, this was really well explained!

[Tasoq]

Seeing it explained like this makes it so much easier to understand than trying to read the instructions lol

[BrimleyGames]

I love Othello!!! This is such a great game!!!

[versuzzero]

I'm tempted to make a 4 player version, maybe even a 6 player version of this using dice/cubes instead of discs...