How to Play Nine Men's Morris
Nine Men's Morris is one of the oldest board games in the world, played on boards scratched into Roman stones and medieval cathedral seats.
The board
Three concentric squares joined by four lines at the midpoints: 24 points where men can stand. Men sit on the points and move along the lines.
Three phases
- Placing. Players take turns putting one of their nine men on any empty point.
- Moving. When all men are placed, a turn is sliding one man along a line to an adjacent empty point.
- Flying. A player down to three men may move a man to any empty point.
Mills
Three of your men in a row along a line is a mill. When you make one, take an enemy man off the board: any man not in a mill, or any man at all if every enemy man is in a mill.
Winning
You win when your opponent has only two men left (once their placing is done), or has no legal move. The same position three times, or fifty moves each with no capture, is a draw.
On kawu
- Tap a point to place; tap a man then a highlighted point to move; after a mill, tap the man to take (outlined in red).
- Three computer levels, two players on one device, or online with a room link.
Frequently asked questions
Can you take a man that's in a mill?
Only if every enemy man is in a mill. Otherwise you must take a man that isn't part of one.
Does breaking and remaking a mill count again?
Yes. Opening a mill by moving one man out and closing it again next turn makes a new mill and takes another man. That's the heart of the strategy.
Last updated 2026-10-20