Othello

Other products by Mattel

Product Features

• This classic game of strategy takes a minute to learn, a lifetime to master
• It's simple enough for children yet challenging for adults
• Great fun for the entire family
• For all generations
• Includes 64 reversible discs, one playing board, six playing board feet and instructions

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.8 x 14.8 x 10.6 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00004TQMQ
• Item model number: B3165
• Our recommended age: 8 - 12 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,443 in Toys & Games (See Bestsellers in Toys & Games)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Toys & Games > Games > Foreign Language Games
  #2 in	Toys & Games > Games > Board Games > Foreign Language Games
  #9 in	Toys & Games > Games > Educational Games > Reading & Word Games

• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

"Othello is a game where not all is Black and White. The lead can change hands from play to play and strategy is everything. Play is simple. Players are represented by either Black or White discs on the board. On each turn, players flank the discs of the opposing player between two of their own. Once captured, the double-sided discs are turned over and become the opposite color. If you have a move, you have to take it whether you want to or not. That’s all, that’s the entire game. But more and more discs fall to the opposing side with each turn. Where will it all end? Starting from just four discs to begin the game, play moves all over the board with as many as 64 discs placed by the final move. Play can end when one player can’t make any more moves OR when the board is full. To add to the fun, if you can make a move but you’re out of discs, your opponent has to give you one of theirs. That’s like arming the enemy! As you become more and more familiar with Othello, certain strategies will begin to emerge. Owning a corner is always an advantage as that protects your discs in the immediate vicinity - your opponent can’t outflank you. But is your opponent backing you towards a corner so they can try to control it themselves? That’s the strategy of Othello. Can you see enough moves ahead to make your opponent put a disc somewhere they don’t want to? A minute to learn…a lifetime to master!"

Product Description

An internationally acclaimed strategy game, Othello takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. Simple enough for children, yet challenging for adults, it's great, fast-moving fun for the entire family. Choose to be black or white and strive to get the most discs flipped with your color face-up at the end of the game. White can turn to black and black can turn to white again and again in this constantly changing game. Includes: 64 reversible discs, one playing board, six playing board "feet" and instructions. For 2 players. Board measures 14.25"L x 10.19"W x 1.25"H.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite game, March 31, 2002

By	Joseph Dewey (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is my favorite game. The rules are easy enough so that you can learn in 5 minutes. However, the game changes as your skill level changes.

If you are young, this is an excellent mind-expanding game, plus a lot of fun.

If you aren't very good at games, this can be a good social game that is quick to learn. Just make sure you play someone at your skill level.

If you love strategy games, this game is for you. If you haven't played it since you were a kid, you probably haven't appreciated the intense strategic elements in this game. I think this game coined the phrase "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master." It is a lot of fun going through the mastery process.

The quality is not as good as I remember it as a kid, but the board will hold together even though the green felt will wear quickly.

And, as a trivia note, Othello is the brand name of the generic game of Reversi. Reversi is available for free at many online gaming sites.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deviously simple. Simply devious., June 26, 2003

By	Joseph Ekaitis "author of Collinsfort Village" (Southern California) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

You put down your black disk, enclosing your opponent's white disk between another black disk already on the board. You then flip the opponent's disk from white to black. You and your opponent take turns until there are no more available moves and the player whose color dominates the board is the winner.

There. That's all there is to Othello. And a little dust was all there was to Vesuvius.

Beneath its innocent appearance and simple game play, Othello conceals one of the most challenging and enduring strategy games known to humanity. Believed to be older than chess and checkers (going back to when it was called Reversi), Othello is a game of unexpected twists and turns, mind-bending strategy and constant challenge. It's one of a handful of strategy games where the outcome isn't decided in the first few moves. If you're playing black, there might be 2 or 3 white disks on the board as the game nears the end. Then, in a few moves you never anticipated, your opponent is suddenly flipping disk after disk to the opposite color. And all you can do is sit there and watch it happen.

Because of its non-linguistic, purely symbolic game play, it's a game many parents teach to their children and soon, find themselves getting whomped over and over again. A child's ability to think abstractly and look ahead hasn't yet been hindered by the adult obsession with language and the written and spoken word. Like learning to draw, becoming skilled at Othello is a function of the "right" brain: thinking without words, seeing everything, pondering every possibility. It's possible to sit in the middle of a busy airport playing Othello and, over time, becoming completely oblivious to everything else going on around you. Othello can easily be played by opponents who don't even speak the same language, which is one of the reasons Othello tournaments attract participants from all over the world.

The product's well-known tagline of "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master" might sound like typical advertising hype but it's true. Computers have been programmed to play checkers and chess nearly flawlessly, but the same still cannot be said of Othello.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Positively Addictive!, May 31, 2004

By	AlexJouJou (California) - See all my reviews

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I've seen this game often in the stores but passed it up in favor of the flashier games with the namebrand attached.

We are gamehounds and I have so many games it was getting harder to find games we DIDN'T have! Enter: Othello. What a fabulous game!

My daughter (she's 7) picked up how to play very quickly. This is a game of strategy, not chance. In that aspect it is much more educational than so many other games out there which rely on chance and sometimes leave kids with "poor gamemanship" attitudes. I really found myself thinking hard after every move my daughter made. Now that is a GREAT game! Challenging on all levels.

This is also an excellent game for math skills. I highly recommend this game.