The design quality of games on the Palm Pre is now approaching those available on that other major smartphone. After “Spades” and similar efforts there was some concern around quality control with respect to the fit-and-finish in Palm Pre Apps. Fear no more: Reversi and some of the newer apps including Dots, and Word Ace have dispelled any such concerns. Reversi is a polished implementation of the popular strategy game which also goes by the name of “Othello.” Reversi is a two-player strategy board game played on an 8×8 grid with colored disks representing each player. The app itself launches with a nice background slideshow of nineteenth century Reversi boards. 

Other thoughtful touches include separate views presenting the history of the game and a help and about screen.  The game lets you vary the difficulty of the computer opponent, but you may find even the most difficult setting to be easily beatable. You can also let the Pre show you your next possible moves along with the flip count for the move. Hopefully the computer will have improved algorithms with subsequent updates. For now, you may find the game a little too easy and the app loses some of its appeal as a result. Overall, Reversi is a well-designed and thoughtful game for your smartphone, and is sure to become quite popular once the algorithm is improved to make it a little more challenging.