How to play Mhele

The aim

Objective

Win by reducing your opponent to fewer than three pieces after placement is complete, or by leaving them with no legal move when it is their turn. You remove opposing pieces by forming mills—three of your pieces in a valid straight line.

Before the first turn

Setup

Mhele is played by two players. One controls the white pieces and the other controls the black pieces. Each player has 12 pieces, and the board begins empty. TswanaPlay assigns the colours and indicates whose turn it is.

Phase one

Placing phase

Players alternate turns, placing one piece on any empty intersection. A placed piece stays on that point until the moving phase begins. Placement continues until both players have placed all 12 pieces.

1. Choose an empty intersection.
2. Place one piece.
3. If that placement creates a new mill, complete the required capture.
4. After the capture, or if no mill formed, the turn passes.

You cannot move a previously placed piece while either player still has pieces left to place.

Lines of three

Forming mills

A mill is three of your pieces occupying all three points of one valid line. In TswanaPlay, mills can be horizontal, vertical, or on one of the four corner diagonals shown on the board.

A mill must be newly formed by your current placement or move to earn a capture. An unchanged mill does not keep awarding captures on later turns.

After a mill

Capturing an opponent's piece

When you form a new mill, you must remove one opposing piece before your turn ends. The capture follows a priority rule:

1. If the opponent has any pieces outside mills, capture one of those pieces.
2. If every opposing piece is in a mill, you may capture a piece from a mill.

Captured pieces leave the board permanently. You cannot capture your own piece or an empty point, and you cannot make another placement or movement while the capture is pending.

Phase two

Moving phase

After both players have placed all 12 pieces, turns consist of moving one of your pieces to an adjacent empty intersection. The destination must be connected to the starting point by a board line.

As in placement, forming a new mill pauses the turn for one legal capture.

Three pieces remaining

Flying phase

When a player has exactly three pieces on the board, that player may fly. Instead of moving only to an adjacent point, one piece may move to any empty intersection.

Flying changes the available destinations, but it does not remove the other rules. Turns still alternate, mills still earn captures, and occupied points remain illegal.

Ending the game

Winning

A player wins in either of these situations after the placing phase:

• The opponent has fewer than three pieces remaining.
• It is the opponent's turn and none of their pieces has a legal move.

Timed online matches can also end when a player's clock reaches zero or when a player resigns. Those are match controls rather than board-rule victories.

No winner

Draws

TswanaPlay declares a draw when either of these conditions is reached:

• The same game position occurs three times.
• 100 completed moves pass without a capture.

Repetition includes the board position and the game conditions needed to determine legal play. The no-capture count resets whenever a piece is captured.

Moves the game rejects

Illegal moves

• Acting when it is not your turn or after the game has ended.
• Placing on an occupied point or placing after the placing phase.
• Moving during placement, or placing during movement.
• Moving an opponent's piece.
• Moving to an occupied or non-adjacent point when not flying.
• Immediately returning the same piece to the point it just left.
• Ignoring a required capture to make another move.
• Capturing a protected mill piece when a legal non-mill target exists.

In online games, the server validates each action. A highlighted point is guidance, but the server's rule check remains authoritative.

A stronger first game

Beginner tips

• Build toward more than one possible line.
• Check the opponent's immediate mill threat before every turn.
• Keep several movement routes open as the board fills.
• Treat captures as positional choices, not random removals.
• Recount all destinations when either player reaches three pieces.

For more detail, read the beginner strategy guide.

What to avoid

Common mistakes

• Watching only one line and missing a second threat elsewhere.
• Completing a mill without planning which legal piece to capture.
• Blocking your own pieces so they have no useful adjacent destinations.
• Forgetting that the printed corner diagonals count as mill lines.
• Planning to undo the previous move with the same piece on the next turn.
• Assuming a player with three pieces is trapped even though they can fly.