Reversi by Alexander Deplov, recommended app for people living with dementia
Review
This app presents a digital version of The Mill, also known as Nine Men’s Morris; a board game for two players. The aim of the game is to place three pieces on the board to create a line (Mill) and to remove the opponent’s pieces in the process. Classic versions of the game employ a simple monochrome theme, with each player using either black or white pieces. This app represents the classic look perfectly, coupled with the traditional rules.
The game provides helpful hints throughout, indicating where the user can make their next move with a small dot placed on possible tiles. These hints can be hidden if the user would like to increase the difficulty level. A clear wooden board layout is used with contrasting game piece colours to create a pleasing aesthetic. The app lacks the ability to customize the board colour; however we don't believe that any changes are required to enjoy and use this app.
The game allows for three game modes: single player vs. computer, single player vs. online opponent and two players (offline). Three different difficulty levels can be selected depending on the user’s preference (easy, medium, hard). Additionally, there exists an option allowing users to specify ‘flying’ rules during game play, which removes limitations for moving game pieces (once a player is left with only 3 pieces on the board) and therefore increases the difficulty level. This setting is enabled by default (standard rules) but can be disabled through the settings menu. Although the game rules are simple and can be easily learned through the ‘Help’ menu in the app, we recommend this game for users with some previous knowledge of the game.
Recommended Settings
The default settings are suitable for most players and thus little needs to be changed before going straight into gameplay. However, we would suggest that the player begins in ‘easy’ mode difficulty level as this can be a challenge in itself before progressing to harder levels. It would also be advised hints are left on, as to assist the user with gameplay.
