Nine Men's Morris on your own devices
Nine Men’s Morris has three stages: placing, moving and, with flying on, jumping anywhere once you are down to three pieces. Away from a shared table it is easy to lose track, so the game tells each player what to do next on their own screen: place, move, or remove a piece after a mill. Send the link to a friend, and the server accepts only legal moves.
Free for 2 players, each on your own phone, tablet or computer. Share a link or a 6-character code; nobody needs an account or a download.
How to play Nine Men’s Morris online with friends
Nine Men’s Morris online is a two player game, so a room has exactly two places at the board. The host, who made the room, takes the white pieces; the first friend through the invite link gets black. Each side starts with nine pieces in hand. If a third friend taps the same link, they arrive as a spectator: the full board and both counters, but no moves of their own.
The lobby holds two settings, both set by the host and visible to both players. Who goes first lists both names with their colors, so White doesn’t have to start, and each rematch hands the first move to the other player. Flying at 3 pieces is on unless the host switches it off; with it off, a player down to three pieces still has to slide along the lines. Once Black’s seat is filled, the host taps Start.
Placing, moving and removing on two screens
- The badges count for both of you. While pieces are being placed, each badge shows how many pieces that player still has in hand. Once both hands are empty, it shows how many are left on the board, with a Flying tag when a player reaches three and flying is on. Yours is the one nearest the bottom edge.
- A mill is a two-step turn. After your friend closes a mill, the turn stays with them until they pick one of your pieces to remove, and your bar says that one of yours is about to go. Nothing moves on your board until they choose.
- Draws happen by themselves. The third repetition of a position, or 50 moves each without a mill, ends the game as a draw on both screens at once.
- No move timer. The moving phase can turn into a slow standoff, and the room leaves you as long as you need to find a way through.
Tips for 9 men’s morris with a friend far away
- Try a game without flying. The endgame plays very differently when three pieces can’t jump. If you both know the game well, ask the host to switch flying off; after any game, New setup brings the room back to the lobby to change it.
- Warn or groan out loud. The room has no chat, so a call or your group chat is where to react when someone opens a mill they plan to close next turn.
- On a patchy connection? A Reconnecting… banner shows while your phone gets back in touch. A move sent just as the signal dropped is never sent twice, so look at the board once it is back before you tap again.
- If you need to leave, pass on the host role. In the Room panel, your friend’s ⋯ menu has Make host: after you confirm, the Rematch button and the lobby settings are theirs.
Learn the mills
The Nine Men’s Morris rules cover placing, moving, flying and how a game ends, and the Nine Men’s Morris strategy tutorial explains mobility, double mills and the flying phase. To pass one phone between you or practice against a computer opponent, play Nine Men’s Morris on one device.
Rooms are private and close by themselves after the game; the server keeps a room’s names and moves only while it is open. See the privacy policy for the details.
