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You play in phases: placing, then moving. First you place your twelve men alternately onto the board's points, then you slide men along the lines, including the added diagonals.

Mills work as in all morris games, with more ways to make them:

• Forming a mill means three of your men in a row along any marked line, now including the diagonals. Each new mill removes one of your opponent's men from the board.
• The crowded placement matters because with twelve men each, the board fills up. If it fills completely during placement without any mills forming, the game is declared a draw.

The diagonal lines create extra mill opportunities, so both attack and defense are denser than in the nine-man game.

You win by reducing your opponent to two men or trapping them. The computer sharpens across eight levels.

Tips

• Plan placement carefully. With twelve men filling a crowded board, where you place each one matters a great deal, so think about mills and mobility from your very first move rather than placing casually.
• Use the diagonals. The extra diagonal lines create mill opportunities the smaller game lacks, so watch for them both to form your own mills and to block your opponent's.
• Avoid a placement draw if you're ahead. If the board fills during placement with no mills, it's a draw, so when you have the better position, look to form a mill before the board locks up.
• Keep some men mobile. A crowded board can trap your men, so as you place, leave yourself empty points to move into, since being unable to move loses the game.
• Block double threats. The dense board makes double mill threats common, so watch for your opponent setting up two mills at once and break the position before they can swing between them.
• Remove the most dangerous man. When a mill lets you take an enemy man, choose the one that most disrupts their mills or frees up your movement on the packed board.

Frequently asked questions