How to play The Ninth Frame

The Ninth Frame is a free strategy board game you play online in your browser, on a phone or a computer. Place boxes on a square board, join them into clusters, capture your opponent's boxes and build a fort for your king. Play the computer on a 10-level ladder, or play a friend on one device.

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How to win

Classic

1. Place 3 boxes each turn. Tap a frame to place a box.
2. Join 4 boxes into a T, L or square to make a cluster.
3. A lone enemy box in the middle of your shape is yours. Keep your own boxes connected.
4. Wall in a 3 by 3 space with your clusters.
5. Place 8 fort pieces in the ring around its centre.
6. On a later turn, place your king in the centre to win.

Rat and Cat

1. Place 3 boxes each turn, on any empty frame.
2. Build big clusters and hoard the space. Lone boxes in your shapes are yours to take.
3. Eat your opponent's groups by covering every side.
4. The more you are squeezed, the better your chance of an expansion box.
5. When no useful space is left, a rat with no expansion box loses.

Full rules

Classic rules

• The opener places Blue's first box. The other player then chooses: swap and take Blue with that box, or stay and play Coral. This is the pie rule, so neither side gets a free edge.
• Blue plays from the left and Coral from the right. Coral's first box must land to the right of Blue's, and Blue moves first after that.
• After that, each turn is 3 boxes. You can't place behind your own first box.
• Loose boxes are vulnerable. Four joined in a T, L or square become a cluster. Straight lines and zigzags don't count.
• A group is eaten when every forward and sideways side is covered by the opponent. Its back doesn't need covering, and edges are ignored.
• A cluster can only be eaten when it's covered by clusters, and the biggest one touching it is bigger than it is.
• Eaten boxes flip to the attacker's colour and join their clusters.
• Cluster capture: if you have 3 boxes of a T, L or square and the last spot holds a lone opponent box, you take it and the cluster is yours. In a T it must sit in the middle (touching 3 of your boxes), in an L in the middle (touching 2). In a square it's taken once 3 of its sides are your pieces; the board edge doesn't count. A box at the end of a shape blocks it instead.
• To save a lone box from cluster capture, connect it to one of your own boxes. A box touching any of its owner's pieces can't be taken this way.
• A safe space is a 3 by 3 space walled in on all sides by your clusters. Edges can't be part of the wall, and your opponent can't place inside it.
• Fort pieces can only go in the ring of your safe space and use your 3 placements. If the wall breaks, they turn into normal boxes.
• The king is free. It goes in the centre on a turn after the ring was finished, and it wins at once.
• If neither player has room left to make a safe space, the player with the biggest cluster gets the space clearer. If the biggest clusters tie, the game is a draw.
• The space clearer clears a 3 by 3 space starting where you place it and running forward. Fort pieces and the king go there, and no wall is needed.
• The cleared space is protected. The opponent can only place inside it on a frame that touches one of their clusters; a lone box touching it gives no way in. If the space is behind their first box, it's a clean shot and they can never enter.
• If nobody can place at all, the game is a draw.

Rat and Cat rules

• The board starts empty on 9 by 9. Each turn is 3 boxes on any empty frame.
• The opener plays Blue's first turn. The other player then chooses to swap and take Blue, or stay and play Coral.
• Clusters work as in Classic, including cluster capture of lone boxes. A group is eaten when every side is covered by the opponent, and edges are ignored.
• The player with the bigger biggest cluster is the cat, and the other is the rat. If those are equal, more boxes decides. Roles can swap.
• At the start of your turn, if your opponent holds 80% or more of the boxes, you roll for an expansion box: 1 in 6 at 80%, 1 in 4 at 85%, 1 in 3 at 90%, 1 in 2 at 95%, and certain at 100%. You can hold one box, and rolls start once 12 boxes are on the board.
• When no empty space can hold a T, L or square, the rat uses their held box. With no box, or with the board at 13 by 13, the rat loses.
• On a tie, the player with the next move has a 1 in 3 chance of an expansion box. If it misses, the game is a draw.
• The expansion box goes just outside an edge and adds a T shape of 4 new frames. Using it on your turn costs no placement.

Questions

Is The Ninth Frame free?

Yes. It's free to play in any modern browser. Ads pay for it.

Do I need to download anything or make an account?

No. Open playninthframe.com and play. Your ladder progress stays on your device.

Can I play on my phone?

Yes. The game works on phones, tablets and computers.

Can two people play?

Yes. Choose 2 players, one device, and pass it between you.

Is it like Go?

Its master idea comes from the old board game Go: defence is an attack that hasn't happened yet. The rules, the clusters and the fort are its own.