This game has like 200 different names -- Mills, Merelles, Nine Man Morris, Marky Mark -- but I think Nine Men’s Morris is the most popular (even though it’s by far the worst name). It’s a really simple, short game for two players that’s been around since ancient Rome. You should get really good so if you ever travel back in time to 37 AD you can beat Caligula in a match for your life. It has happened.
Pieces
The game is played on kind of a weird board, which you can print out for free here. Each player needs nine pieces, and that’s it. As usual, pennies and nickels will work fine.
Rules
The game starts with the board completely empty, and consists of two phases of play.
In the first phase, players take turns placing pieces anywhere on the board, always on empty intersections. After all nine pieces have been placed, you switch to moving them around.
During the movement phase, you can move one of your pieces in any direction along a line to an adjacent, empty intersection. There is no jumping or anything else allowed, just one-line moving.
If at any point in the game you manage to line up three of your pieces in a row, either by placing them that way or moving them into a line, you get to remove one of your opponent’s pieces from the board. A line of three pieces is called a "mill." Unless there is no other option, you cannot remove an opponent’s piece from a mill.
You can still move your own pieces out of a mill, and even move them directly back into the same one, which does count as the formation of another mill.
If pieces are taking during the placement phase, you can’t place them back on the board. Players can only place nine pieces total, regardless of how many are off the board due to capture.
The game is over either when a player can’t move any pieces, in which case he loses, or if he manages to capture seven of his opponent’s pieces, in which case he wins.
