The objective is to reduce your opponent to strictly two pieces, or to block all of their pieces so they cannot make a legal move.
The game proceeds in three distinct phases:
- Phase 1 - Placing: Players take turns placing their 9 pieces onto any empty intersections (dots) on the board.
- Phase 2 - Moving: Once all pieces are placed, players take turns sliding one of their pieces along the printed lines to an adjacent empty dot.
- Phase 3 - Flying: When a player is reduced to only 3 pieces left on the board, their pieces may "fly" to any empty intersection on the board, ignoring the lines.
- Mills: Forming a "mill" (a row of 3 pieces belonging to the same player along a valid line) allows that player to remove one of the opponent's pieces from the board. Note: You cannot remove an opponent's piece that is currently part of a mill, unless there are no other pieces available to capture.
Nine Men's Morris is an abstract strategy board game dating back to at least the Roman Empire. Boards have been found carved into temple roofs in Egypt, across European monasteries, and on ancient trade routes. Because of its simple grid and deep strategy, it remains one of the oldest recorded games in human history that is still actively played today.