Nine Men's Morris

Boards for this game have been cut into the roofs of Egyptian temples and the cloister benches of English cathedrals, which tells you something about how long people have been playing it. Twenty-four points, nine men each, and one thing to do: get three of your men onto a line, which is called a mill, and take one of your opponent's off the board.

The game has three parts and they feel completely different. First you both put your nine men down wherever you like, and everything you do is about where the lines cross. Then you slide them along the lines one point at a time, opening a mill and closing it again to take a man every turn if you can. Finally, whoever is down to three men may move to any empty point at all — flying — which turns a lost position into a fight.

Three strengths of opponent. Easy takes a mill it can close this turn and sees nothing else. Medium looks three moves ahead. Hard looks four while the men are going down and six once they are sliding, which is the half of the game where it matters, and it will shut you in if you let it.