Reversi vs Othello: are they the same game?
People use the two names for the same thing, and they are nearly right. If you learned Othello you can sit down at a Reversi board and play immediately, because every rule that governs a move is identical.
The difference is historical, and it lives almost entirely in the first four discs.
Play ReversiWhat they share
Both are played on an eight by eight board with discs that are black on one side and white on the other. A move has to trap a line of enemy discs between the disc you place and another of your own, and every disc in that line flips.
A move that flips nothing is illegal. If you cannot move your turn is skipped. The game ends when the board fills or nobody can move, and the player with more discs wins.
Where they differ
- Reversi, published in the 1880s, let players place the first four discs wherever they liked in the central squares, so the opening was part of the game.
- Othello, trademarked in Japan in the 1970s, fixes that opening: two black and two white in the middle, diagonally opposed.
- Some old Reversi rules limited each player to sixteen discs. Othello does not.
- Othello is a brand. Reversi is the public domain game underneath it.
Which one are you playing here
The fixed Othello opening, because it is what everyone now expects and it makes the first few moves fair rather than fiddly. The strategy that follows is the same either way: corners are permanent, edges are strong, and taking the most discs early is usually a mistake.
So the answer is yes for any practical purpose. Call it either name, the game on the board is the one you know.
Play Reversi