​Nine Men’s Morris is a two-player strategy game that dates back to the roman empire. Bring children back in time with this simple and timeless game for kids that will keep them busy and entertained.

​The Game Board

 You can create a Nine Men’s Morris board on the sidewalk with chalk, on paper with markers, on wood with a wood burning tool, basically anywhere you are with whatever materials you have available.

Draw a square.  On the corners draw a circle.  In between each circle draw another circle so that 8 circles are spaced evenly around the square.Now draw a larger square, again draw the circles on the corners and in between.  Next, draw a third and final square with the circles in the same place. Finally draw a line connecting the center circles of each line, but do not go through the center.The final board should look like this: 

Click here for a 9 Men’s Morris printable PDF game board.

​Nine Men’s Morris Game Play

Each player gets 9 “stones” or small playing pieces.  Players take turns placing their pieces on the circles around the board. The object of the game is to get three “stones” in a row, called a “mill”.   When you get a mill, you can remove one of your opponent’s stones, the stone is then out of play and cannot re-enter the game. When choosing which stone to remove you must first remove stones that are not part of an opponent’s mill.

After all stones have been placed on the board players take turns moving one piece at a time.  You may only move the pieces one circle, you may not jump any pieces on the board.  Every time a player completes a mill they get to remove an opponent’s stone.  

When a player has only three stones remaining, they can now move their stone to ANY vacant circle around the board.  They no longer have to adhere to the one circle movement rule.  Game play continues until one player has only two stones and can no longer complete a mill.  

Learn about Nine Men’s Morris and other more ancient games from ancientgames.org.