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Play Nine Men's Morris online — free
Make mills. Take pieces.
- 1 or 2 players
- Play the computer — 5 levels
- Play friends or other players online
- Phone, tablet or computer — right in your browser
- Free — no sign-up, no download
About Nine Men's Morris
Nine men's morris is a strategy game played for thousands of years. Place your nine pieces, then move them along the lines; every line of three — a mill — lets you take one of your opponent's pieces.
Play with or without "flying" and take on the computer or a friend online.
How to play Nine Men's Morris
Goal
Get three of your pieces in a straight line along a line of the board — a mill — and use each mill to take one of your opponent's pieces. You win when your opponent is down to two pieces or can't move.
Setup
The board has 24 points on three nested squares joined in the middle of each side. It starts empty. Each player has 9 pieces in hand (shown in the tray at your end of the board). White goes first.
On your turn
- Placing: while you still have pieces in hand, tap any empty point to put one there.
- Moving: once both players have placed all nine, tap one of your pieces, then an empty neighbouring point along a line.
- Flying: when you're down to exactly three pieces, you may move a piece to any empty point. (Can be switched off with the "No flying" option.)
Mills and removing
- When your move forms a new mill, the board asks you to tap one of your opponent's pieces to remove — the targets are marked. Your turn ends after that.
- You may not take a piece that is part of a mill — unless all of their pieces are in mills.
- Moving a piece out of a mill and back in again forms the mill again, so it counts once more.
How the game ends
- You win when your opponent has only two pieces left, or when it's their turn and none of their pieces can move.
- It's a draw when the same position comes up three times, or after 50 moves each in the moving stage with no mill made. Players can also agree a draw.
Tips
- While placing, don't rush to make mills — spread out and keep your pieces able to move. Blocked pieces lose games.
- The four middle points of each side (d2, b4, f4, d6) have the most neighbours.
- A piece that can slide between two mills (a "running mill") wins a piece every other turn.
- Always check whether your opponent can close a mill next move, and block it.
Nine Men's Morris: questions and answers
Is Nine Men's Morris free to play?
Yes. Nine Men's Morris on Neon Game Cave is completely free — there's nothing to download and you don't need to sign up.
Can I play Nine Men's Morris against the computer?
Yes. Choose "Play the computer" and pick one of 5 levels — from a gentle beginner to a tough opponent.
How do I play Nine Men's Morris with a friend online?
Open the Game Cave and challenge your friend from the Players online list in the lobby. To be sure you find each other, share a chat room code first — friends in a chat room also get free text chat during the game.
Can I play Nine Men's Morris on my phone or tablet?
Yes. Nine Men's Morris runs in the web browser on phones, tablets and computers, so there's no app to install. You can add Neon Game Cave to your home screen to open it like an app.
Do I need an account to play Nine Men's Morris?
No. You can play straight away as a guest. Signing in with Google is optional — it keeps your games safe in the cloud and, in games with leaderboards, puts your best scores on them.