Reviewer: Dos-Games-Online
This game is not too hard and not too easy. Since many Othello games tend to be either too hard or too easy, this shines out as an example of excellent AI. The graphics are primitive, but that has little impact on the game's quality since the colors are well chosen for contrast and it is easy on the eyes. Also, there are a few extra nice features that most Othello games don't have. There is little or no sound, but the game doesn't need sound.
Lack of mouse support and excessive typing may turn off some people. As well, the interface may be a bit confusing for some. With all this said, this game is well made.
If you are an Othello fan, download this one! However, if you've never played Othello before, you may want to get a different Othello game.
Reviewer: Dos-Games-Online
Othello is a classic strategic game that, although less well known, is certainly on a par with its more famous board games such as chess and draughts. I can remember playing this game, on a physical board, as a child, where I suppose I found my love of the game. Today the game is far quicker to play on a PC or laptop as the pieces are turned for the player. Additionally mistakes aren’t made during turning the pieces.
The goal of the game is to end up with more pieces of your color, black or white, than your opponent by the end of the game. The game is played on an 8x8 board with pieces that are back on one side and white on the other. Player takes alternate turns to ‘capture’ their opponent’s pieces by trapping an opponent’s pieces between their own.
Whilst very simple to play, the strategy of the game is very deep, often requiring thinking ahead for numerous moves to avoid defeat. As the skill of the novice player increases he/she will become more aware of certain advantageous positions that can be held on the board. The most obvious of these possesses a corner. A piece in a corner cannot be turned, while the player owning that piece can then build on the advantage of a corner piece to control the board. The giving up of a corner to your opponent should be avoided, especially in the early game.
What is often overlooked in the game is the control of the centre squares. Whilst not obvious for the novice, many of whom rush to grab a corner, the centre squares become an important strategic point in the later game. Without possession of at least one of these squares any player, in the later game, will find it difficult to gain any control of the board.
Often the game appears to be won very early on with one player controlling the majority of the pieces. But, as in chess, it isn’t the number of pieces that are owned, rather the positions that those pieces are in. Games are often won in the final few plays of the game. This is where the strategic play early in the game pays off. No control of the centre or lack of control of the corners usually ends in a in a swift defeat.
Othello is as complex or as simple as the player wants it to be. It is a game that is easy enough for a child to learn and sophisticated enough for the determined strategist.
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