Reversi on your own devices
Reversi is a game of flips, and on separate screens both players need to see every flip as it happens. In an online room the server plays each move, turns the outflanked discs and sends the new board to both devices at once. If you have no legal move, your turn passes automatically, so the game never stalls.
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 reversi online with friends
A reversi room is two-player online play at its simplest: two seats, Black and White, each on its own device. Whoever creates the room sits at Black, and because Black always opens in reversi, the host makes the first move of the first game. The friend who follows your invite link takes White as soon as they are in.
There is nothing for the host to set in the lobby. The 8×8 board and the four center discs are the same every time, so once both seats are filled the button reads Start with 2 players, and one tap begins the game. Anyone else who opens the link is listed under Watching: they see every move and every flip on their own screen, but they can’t place a disc.
What changes when reversi is on two screens
- Your color is at the bottom. Your own badge, with its live disc count, always sits at the bottom of your screen, and your friend’s sits at the bottom of theirs.
- The board waits for you. While your friend is thinking, your board is locked and the bar says “Waiting for” with their name, so a stray tap can’t drop a disc in the wrong place. When it switches to “Your turn”, the board is yours.
- Move rings are a personal choice. Show legal moves, in the More menu, is kept separately on each device, so the rings that mark every legal square can be on for one player and off for the other.
- Nothing hurries you. A reversi room has no move timer, so you can take a minute over whether to give up an edge square.
- Lost signal? A “Reconnecting…” banner shows while your phone finds its way back, and the board then catches up with any move made in the meantime. After a few seconds, a note on your friend’s screen says you lost the connection and your seat is kept, so they know why the game has paused.
Tips for a reversi match with a friend far away
- Agree on the rings first. For a serious match, both of you switch Show legal moves off; for a teaching game, only the learner keeps them on. Nobody can see which way the other has it set.
- Talk through the flips on a call. There is no chat inside a reversi room, so a phone call beside the board is where the gasps go when a whole edge turns over.
- Alternate Black over an evening. Each rematch gives Black, and with it the opening move, to whoever just played White, and the wins travel with each person. Stopping on an even number of games means you both opened equally often.
- Stepping away for a while? Leave room, under the Room button, asks you to confirm first, and the same link brings you back as long as the room is still open.
Learn the moves first
The reversi rules explain outflanking, passing and how the game ends, and the reversi strategy tutorial shows why corners, edges and mobility decide most games. To practice against a computer opponent at three levels, or to share one screen at home, play reversi on one device. For more games to play as a pair, see our board games for couples.
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.
