Handcrafted genuine leather circular drawstring pouch board with drawstring pouch and 18 playing pieces.
The Game of Formation, Movement & Tactical Flight
Also known as Mill or Merels. Create a straight line of three pieces to capture opponent counters across three escalating tactical phases: Placing, Moving, and Flying.
Nine Men's Morris is a game of formation, movement and tactical capture.
Also known as Morris, Mill or Merels, it belongs to a family of games that has been played in Europe for centuries. Game boards have been found in a variety of historical settings, although claims that the modern game can be traced with certainty to a particular ancient civilisation should be treated cautiously.
The game is wonderfully simple: create a row of three pieces — a mill — and use it to remove an opponent's piece. But once the pieces begin moving, the board becomes a tactical battlefield.
Reduce your opponent to two pieces or leave them with no legal move.
The board begins empty. Players take turns placing one piece on any empty point. If three of your pieces form a connected straight line, you have created a mill and may immediately remove one opponent piece. Pieces currently part of a mill are protected, unless all opposing pieces are in mills.
Once all 18 pieces have been placed onto the board, players take turns sliding one piece along a connecting line to an adjacent vacant point. Forming a new mill allows you to remove another opponent piece from the board.
When a player is reduced to only three pieces remaining, that player unlocks the ability to "fly" — moving a piece to any vacant point on the entire board, not just adjacent points. Continue forming mills and capturing until one player prevails.
You win when your opponent:
The standard rules of Nine Men's Morris are considerably more secure than those of Senet because the game has a long documented history of continued play across medieval and post-medieval Europe.
| Players | 2 Players |
|---|---|
| Board | 24 connected points on genuine leather leather mat |
| Pieces | 9 per player (18 pieces total) |
| Playing Time | Approximately 20–40 minutes |
| Difficulty | Easy to learn / Moderate to master |
| Historical Confidence | ★★★★☆ — the standard rules are well established |