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|_____|_____|_____|_____| Othello |_____|_____|____|____|
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯| Atari 2600 |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|
|_____|_____|_____|_____| FAQ |_____|_____|____|____|
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯| Version 1.00 |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|
|_____|_____|_____|_____| Mike Truitt |_____|_____|____|____|
|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯| Sunday, February 29, 2004 |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_______________________________|_____|_____|____|____|
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Contents:

I About this FAQ
I I Version History
I I I Game Basics
I V Strategy
V Notes & Thanks

•============================================================================•
| I ABOUT THIS FAQ |
•============================================================================•

_________________
Mission Statement
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I was looking through a bunch of my older games and was wondering to myself
why I didn't write any FAQs for these classics. So I decided to write a
guide for one of my favorites. Then I noticed that Atari 2600 was missing
guides to many many games, so I have made it my duty to get as many good
FAQs out there as I can for this classic, yet overlooked system.
____________
Legal Notice
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•============================================================================•
| I I VERSION HISTORY |
•============================================================================•

____________
Version 1.00
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I have got just about all of the FAQ completed. There may be some more
updates in the future.
_____________
Last Updated:
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Sunday, February 29, 2004

•============================================================================•
| I I I GAME BASICS |
•============================================================================•

_________________________
O B J E C T I V E
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Othello is a game of strategy that involves a large amount of logic. You do
not need to be quick or agile in any way to be a good Othello player. The
objective in Othello is to have as many of your pieces on the board by the
end of the game. In order to do this, you must turn your opponents pieces
over by having one of your pieces on either side of them. This can be done
vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
_____________________________________
M O D E S O F P L A Y
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•=========================================================================•
| Game Mode | Description of the Game |
•===========·=============================================================•
| Level 01 | This game allows for one player to be playing the game. The |
| | difficulty of the game is set to easy. This level is a |
| | fairly easy one to beat. |
·-----------·-------------------------------------------------------------·
| Level 02 | Like Level 01, this too is a one player game. However the |
| | computer is slightly smarter than Level 01. Do not expect |
| | to win every time, but it is certainly beatable. |
·-----------·-------------------------------------------------------------·
| Level 03 | As the previous two levels are, so is Level 03 a one player |
| | game. The computer at this point plays with the skill of an |
| | expert player. It will take some time to beat it, even if |
| | you are a skilled Othello player. |
·-----------·-------------------------------------------------------------·
| Level 04 | This is the mode that you should set it on if you would |
| | like to play against one of your friends. This is the only |
| | setting for a two player game. |
•===========•=============================================================•
______________________
C O N T R O L S
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•=======================================================================•
| Button | Action |
•==================·====================================================•
| Joystick - Up | Moves the cursor upwards |
| Joystick - Right | Moves the cursor right |
| Joystick - Down | Moves the cursor down |
| Joystick - Left | Moves the cursor left |
·------------------·----------------------------------------------------·
| Action Button | Seclects the spot on the board to place your piece |
·------------------·----------------------------------------------------·
| Game Select | Toggles the difficulty settings of the game |
| Game Reset | Resets the game |
·------------------·------------·---------------------------------------·
| Left Difficulty | Position A | Puts the game in a set-up mode where |
| | | you can put any pieces anywhere on |
| | | board to work out specific strategies |
| ·------------·---------------------------------------·
| | Position B | Having the switch here sets up the |
| | | game for any normal mode of play. |
·------------------·------------·---------------------------------------·
| Right Difficulty | Position A | Black player goes first |
| | Position B | White player goes first |
•==================·============·=======================================•
| Note: The official tournament rules of Othello state that the black |
| player is always the first to move. The game allows white to go |
| first to allow the player to gain a slight advantage when they |
| are playing the computer. |
•=======================================================================•
_______________________________
H O W T O P L A Y
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_________
The Board
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Here is a basic diagram of what the board looks like. I have added the
row numbers and the collumn letters to help identify the squares later
on in this FAQ. Note that they are not officiall called that.

A B C D E F G H
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 1) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 2) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 3) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 4) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 5) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 6) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 7) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
(Row 8) | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
_________
The Setup
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
To start off you will begin with a square board that has been divided
into 64 smaller squares - eight squares by eight squares. There will be
four pieces on the board at the start of the game, two white and two
black. The pieces are placed in the center of the board with whites
being in the bottom left and top right (D5 and E4), while black's pieces
will be placed in the top left and bottom right (D4 and E5).
___________
The Playing
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Once the game has begun the black person moves (unless you have it setup
where white goes first. Either way. The player MUST capture one of the
other player's pieces. Each player will follow the other player in turn.
If a person has no legal plays left then their turn is skipped and it is
the other players turn. If neither player has a legal move, then the
game is over, regardless of how many spots are left.
_________
The Moves
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
A player must move his piece to capture at least one of his opponents
pieces at all times. They can either do it vertically (White has a piece
on A1, Black has a piece on A2, White moves to A3), horizontally (White
has a piece on A1, Black on B1, White moves to C1), or diagonally (White
has a piece on A1, Black on B2, White moves to C3). It is legal to trap
in a whole row or collumn of the opponents pieces in one move (White has
a piece on A1, Black on A2 through A7, White moves to A8).
___________
The Scoring
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Each piece on the board that you are showing is worth exactly one point.
If your opponents captures one or more of your pieces you will loose the
same amount of points as the pieces that they have captured.

The winner of Othello is the person who has the most amount of their
pieces showing upwards at the end of a legal game... this is not
necessarily the person who has the last legal move.

•============================================================================•
| I V STRATEGY |
•============================================================================•
______________
Know the board
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I will be referring to the board and different squares in the game. Just
make sure you know what I am talking about...

·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· •==================•
|XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX| | Legend |
|XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX| •=====·============•
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· | XXX | Corners |
|ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo| ·-----·------------·
|ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo| | 000 | Edges |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· ·-----·------------·
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | ... | Pre-Edge |
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | | Insides |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· ·-----·------------·
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | ::: | Pre-Edge |
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | | Corners |
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· ·-----·------------·
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | | Insides |
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| •=====·============•
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo|
|ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo|
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
|ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo|
|ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo|
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
|XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX|
|XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX|
·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·
_________________________
O F F E N S I V E
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______________
Inside is good
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The inside pieces are greater in number than any other spot in the game.
Logically, you will want to have the most center pieces by the end of
the game. As far as offensive strategy goes, you can often set yourself
up for better things. You can get edges if you are able to sneak a piece
in the middle of one of your opponents nearly completed rows or
collumns. The person with the most inside pieces will win the game.
________________
Edges are better
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Try to get any of the edge pieces on the board (squares with the number
one or eight, or letters A and H). A stronghold on the edges allows a
player to control the row or collumn very easily. The person with the
most edge pieces will have the most inside pieces.
________________
Corners are best
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Do whatever you can in the game to get control of any of the four corner
squares (A1, A8, H1, H8). They are the best squares to have for many
reasons. They can attack in any direction without the other player
having any defense against them. The person with the most corners will
have the most edges, which in turn gives you the most center pieces,
which means you win the game.
__________________________________
Double Direction Captures are good
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Try to look for spaces on the board that will allow you to capture
pieces in two directions. Doing this will allow you to capture a larger
amount of pieces in a much shorter amount of time.
____________________________________
Triple Direction Captures are better
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Just like the double direction captures, the triple direction captures
will allow you to capture a large amount of your opponents pieces in a
very short amount of time. Look hard for these spots, because they will
help you out greatly.
___________________________________
Entire Row Captures are even better
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
If you are able to capture an entire row. This is done by having one
edge piece and all of the middle pieces are owned by the opponent with
the other edge being open. This will get you a ton of points and huge
leverage for future moves.
________________
Corners are best
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
You will hear this a lot from me. If you are able to capture multiple
corners you will be able to do a double direction capture with each
being a row, or near a row; sometimes even a triple. Look for corners!
______________________________________
Edges to get Corners are also the best
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
If you have a lot of edge pieces and no corner piece, you will want to
be careful. However, if you are sly you will be able to capture corner
pieces with a fair amount of ease. Having edges are the best setup to
get corner pieces, so be sure to use them.
_________________________
D E F E N S I V E
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______________
Inside is good
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
The inside pieces of the board are good to have in the beginning, but
there is not much real strategy that you can use after a little bit of
the game. They are more of the "pawns" of Othello.
________________
Edges are better
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
If you are able to get ahold of some edge pieces, you will not have to
worry so much about being captured, due to the fact that you will only
be able to be captured from one direction. You will still need to be
careful about what you do, but you can slack a bit.
________________
Corners are best
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
The corners are the Gods of Othello. Once you own a corner piece it is
literally impossible for your opponent to take that away from you. Get
the corner pieces at all costs.
_____________________________
Avoid Pre-Edge Inside Squares
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Pre-Edge Inside Squares are all of the squares that are adjacent to the
edge squares. If you place your piece there with the edge piece being
unoccupied, you are setting the other player up for capturing and edge
piece, which is not a good thing.
_____________________________
Avoid Pre-Edge Corner Squares
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Pre-Edge Corner Squares are B2, B7, G2, and G7. If you place your piece
there with an unoccupied corner piece it is extremely likely that the
corner piece will be taken by your opponent. At all cost avoid placing
your pieces here, unless you are very confident in your skills.
___________________
Be mindful of Edges
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
If you happen to capture a lot of edges and there are open corners, be
careful. If you are not then you will give up corners sometimes, and you
will definately want to make sure that you do not give up any corner
pieces.

•============================================================================•
| V NOTES AND THANKS |
•============================================================================•

A great deal of gratitude is expressed towards all webmasters on the
Internet that spend their priceless time and hard earned money for the sole
purpose of allowing people from all different walks of life, come together
and discuss and help each other with video games. Without that time and that
money, the video game industry would be nowhere near what it is today. Thank
You All.

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••••• author, Mike Truitt, is strictly prohibited. To obtain •••••
••••• usage of this FAQ, simply send an e-mail to this address •••••
••••• [email protected] . Please include your name, what •••••
••••• website / publication you are representing, and I will •••••
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