Reverse is a free Othello clone for mobile phones that provides an accurate simulation of the popular tile-hopping game.
The object of Reverse is to fill up the board with as many black pieces as you can, while preventing your computer opponent doing the same with his white pieces.
As with the traditional Othello (or Reversi as it's often known), this is done by jumping your pieces over your opponents in a straight or diagonal line. All of the pieces in that line then switch from one color to the other. If you've never played Othello before then don't expect any instructions or tutorials from Reverse - there aren't any.
Reverse comes with three levels of difficulty, ranging from quite easy to impossibly hard. We noticed that third level of difficulty can run slowly on some phones, such is the processor power it requires.
Another problem with Reverse is the annoying error messages that pop up when you make an illegal move. Unfortunately, the errors are thrown up every time you select a new square, which means that when you select a piece you want to move, the pop-up is displayed. This quickly gets very annoying.
On the plus side, the presentation of Reverse is very pleasant. Its stone and slate theme makes a refreshing change from the boring plain boards seen in this type of game normally.
Othello enthusiasts should enjoy the challenge of Reverse, but be prepared to put up with its annoying build quirks.
