XReverse

XReverse software is an Othello clone that can be played on virtually any platform as long as you have X and the development headers/libraries. The game is coded simply with a fast AI player, making it very challenging at times.

Playing XReverse is easy - you are always black and always go first. Just click on the square you want to occupy using your mouse. There are also useful keys such as 'h' to show hints, 'n' to start a new game, 'u' to undo the last move, and 'q' to quit the program.

The computer player will go through all the empty tiles on the board and calculate a score for each move using a 'fitness' function. This function takes into account the number of pieces that would be captured by that move and other strategic heuristics. For example, corner pieces are worth more than other pieces as they cannot be usurped.

The program can be built easily with a simple 'make' command. After playing, you can become the superuser and run 'make install' to keep the program. 'make uninstall' can be used to remove the program if necessary. Please note that this program cannot be run by root just in case a security hole is found.