Three Men’s Morris is one of the oldest board games still played, and in Turkey children know it as Üç Taş, “three stones”. The board is tiny: nine points arranged as a square with its two middle lines and both diagonals. Each side has just three pieces. It starts like noughts and crosses, but when the pieces are all down nobody adds more. You slide the ones you have, and a game that would have been a draw on paper turns into a real fight for position.
How to play
You play white and move first. The opponent is black: either the computer, or a second person on the same screen if you choose Friend at the top.
Phase one: placing. Players take turns putting one piece on any empty point until all six are on the board. One restriction applies to the very first piece of the game: it may not go in the centre. With diagonals on the board, a first piece in the centre gives the starting player a forced win, so this table rules it out.
Phase two: sliding. Once all six pieces are placed, each turn you move one of your pieces one step along a line to an empty neighbouring point. The connections are:
- the centre links to all eight other points;
- each corner links to the two side-midpoints next to it and, along the diagonal, to the centre;
- each side-midpoint links to its two corners and to the centre.
There is no jumping and no capturing.
Winning. Get your three pieces onto one line: a row, a column or a diagonal. This counts in either phase, so you can win while still placing. A player who has no legal slide on their turn loses. If both sides make 50 moves without a result, the game is a draw.
Controls. Tap an empty point to place. In the sliding phase, tap one of your pieces and then the highlighted point it should go to. Hint suggests a move, Undo takes one back, and the computer has Easy, Medium and Hard settings.
What the small board does to strategy
On nine points, every piece matters. A few things become clear after a handful of games.
The centre is the key square. It sits on four lines (the middle row, middle column and both diagonals) and touches every point on the board. Since white may not open there, black usually takes it with the first reply. If you are white, plan around that: corner openings leave you the most options.
Blocking is mandatory, not optional. As soon as your opponent has two pieces on a line with the third point empty, you have to fill it. During placement that often decides where your last piece goes.
Look at what a slide uncovers. In the sliding phase each move does two things: it adds a piece to a new point and empties an old one. The empty point may complete a line for your opponent on their next turn. Before you slide, check every line through the point you are leaving.
Mobility wins long games. The rule that a player who cannot move loses is real. A piece stuck in a corner with both neighbours filled can’t help, and if all three of yours are stuck, you lose without your opponent making a line. Keep at least one piece next to the centre.
Make threats that leave you safe. The strongest slide threatens a line while also blocking one of your opponent’s. With so few points, double-purpose moves are common if you look for them.
Compared with the larger morris games
Nine Men’s Morris uses 24 points and nine pieces, and making a line there (a “mill”) removes an enemy piece rather than ending the game. Three Men’s Morris is the stripped-down ancestor: one line wins outright, nothing is captured, and a game usually lasts a couple of minutes. It is a good warm-up for the bigger board and a decent puzzle in its own right.
If you enjoy Three Men’s Morris, try Toguz Korgool or Tombala next.
