Morabaraba vs Nine Men’s Morris: What’s Different

The short answer

Morabaraba and Nine Men’s Morris belong to the same family of mill games: two players line up three pieces in a row, and each line, called a mill, takes one of the opponent’s pieces. They are not the same game. Morabaraba is what English-language references call Twelve Men’s Morris. It is played in South Africa, Lesotho and Botswana, and it differs from Nine Men’s Morris in two ways that matter at the board: diagonal lines, and twelve pieces a side.

For the whole picture in one table, see Nine Men’s Morris and Morabaraba compared.

Difference one: the diagonals

Both boards have the same 24 points on three nested squares, joined at the midpoints of each side. Morabaraba adds a diagonal line through each set of corners, from the outer square to the inner one. That makes four new lines of three points, so there are 20 ways to make a mill instead of 16.

The diagonals also change which points are strong. On a Nine Men’s Morris board, a corner of the middle square touches only two neighbours. On a Morabaraba board the same point touches four, as many as the busiest midpoints. A player coming from Nine Men’s Morris tends to undervalue those corners at first, and to miss a mill closing along a diagonal.

Difference two: twelve cows a side

Nine Men’s Morris gives each player nine pieces, so at most 18 of the 24 points are filled when placement ends. Morabaraba gives each player twelve, and if nobody makes a mill during placement, all 24 points are taken. The opening is crowded and every placement either builds a mill or blocks one.

The pieces are spoken of as cows (dikgomo), and each player keeps a herd. The board echoes a cattle kraal seen from above. The name comes from the Southern Sotho moraba-raba, “to mill” or “to go round in a circle”. You can read more about these roots on our about page.

What stays the same

The core of the game will feel familiar to any Nine Men’s Morris player:

• Three phases: place your pieces, move them along the lines, then fly when you are down to three.
• A mill removes one opposing piece from the board for good.
• In Traditional rules, a piece standing in a mill is safe unless every opposing piece is in a mill.
• You lose when you are down to two pieces or have no legal move.

Morabaraba also has a second rule set on this site. Koti, from Lesotho, plays on a 25-point board with a live centre point and leaves no piece safe from capture. If you want the closest match to Nine Men’s Morris, start with Traditional.

Tips if you are switching from Nine Men’s Morris

• Count the diagonals when you look for threats. Four of the 20 mills run corner to corner.
• Value the corners of the middle square. With four neighbours each, they are as flexible as any point on the board.
• Plan for a crowded board. With twelve pieces each, the movement phase can open with very few empty points, and keeping room to move matters as much as making mills.
• Read the Morabaraba rules once before your first game; they are short.

Can you play Nine Men’s Morris here?

Yes. Start a game and choose Nine Men’s Morris as your board to play the computer or a friend on the same device, or pick it in the online lobby to play people. It uses the standard rules: no diagonals, nine pieces each, one piece removed per mill, and flying with your last three. When you want the twelve-piece game, Morabaraba is a board away, and most of what you know carries straight over.