| Release Date: | 1988 |
| Publisher: | Acclaim |
| Mode(s): | 1 or 2 player simultaneous |
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As easy-to-learn as checkers. As fascinating as chess. Othello is a fast-paced game of wits and long-range strategy. And because one move can turn the whole board upside-down, you'll never know who's winning. Until they've won. That's why it may only take a minute to learn. But it takes a lifetime to master.
The strong conquer the weak. The wise conquer the foolhardy. Black and white. Victory and defeat.
The concepts behind Othello are as old as time itself. Its origins are part Western, part Eastern. And today it is played the world over -- with international tournaments to crown the World Champion.
Othello has been traced back to England in the late 1800s -- when it was called Reversi. Then, 20 years later, the Japanese refined the game and gave it the name Othello (after the famous Shakesperian play). And it quickly became one of Japan's national pastimes.
It's easy to learn. The concept is so simple, so elegant. There are 64 squares on a square grid; 32 disks that are white on one side, 32 disks that are black on the other.
One player plays black and the other plays white. They lay down their disks, one by one -- battling to control as much as the board as they can.
On each move, one player attempts to "trap" his opponent's disks between two of his own. And when he does, his opponent's disks are flipped to the color of the trapper's disks, so that BLACK forces WHITE to turn BLACK and WHITE forces BLACK to turn WHITE.
This continual "flipping of disks" -- with its changes of power -- makes it difficult to predict the outcome of each game. One move could easily change the complexion of things.
And in knowing exactly what that right move might be lies the secret of Othello. A secret that could take a lifetime to discover.
So as you enter this old-age struggle -- black and white, vulnerability and power -- remember this: it's never over until it's over.
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