Each puzzle starts from a fixed endgame position. You play Black and the computer defends as White with its most stubborn moves. Play to the end and win to solve it. Six new puzzles, from Beginner to Luminary, are posted every day, and you can also solve the puzzles from the past 30 days. Free, no sign-up, right in your browser on phone or PC.
Rules
Black moves first. After each of your moves, White replies.
In the starting position of every puzzle, exactly one move wins.
A player with no legal move passes, and the opponent moves again.
At the end, only the discs on the board are counted (empty squares are not). A draw does not count as solved.
If you go wrong, the game keeps going. After the last move you will see on which of your moves the win slipped away. You can go back to that move and try again.
The hint works in two steps: first it highlights two squares, one of which wins; the second time it circles the winning move (when there are only two possible moves, the first hint circles it right away). "Answer" replays the winning line on the board.
Levels
Beginner: 2–3 empty squares
Intermediate: 4–5 empty squares
Advanced: 6–8 empty squares
Master: 9–10 empty squares
Grandmaster: 11–12 empty squares
Luminary: 14 empty squares
Patterns you will often see
Making your opponent pass: if your opponent has nowhere to move, you get to move again. With only a few squares left, this can decide the game.
Flipping the most discs loses: flipping many discs can open up more moves for your opponent.
Playing into areas with an odd number of empty squares: in the endgame, when the empty squares are split into separate areas, playing in an area with 1 or 3 empty squares makes it easier for you to fill its last square. The player who fills the last square of an area is less likely to have the discs flipped there flipped back, which is an advantage. This strategy is known as "parity."
More Games from Yuki Lab
Here are a few more free web games we make, with the same focus on quality and fun.