Support

Drag a stone onto any point that glows, or tap the stone first and then tap the point. During placing, tap any empty point. Once all stones are down, drag or tap-then-tap to an adjacent empty point.

A mill is three of your own stones in a straight row along one of the drawn lines — diagonals never count. The moment you close a mill, your opponent's removable stones start to glow; tap one to take it off the board.

Stones sitting in one of your opponent's own closed mills are protected. You may only take a protected stone if every one of your opponent's stones is currently in a mill. The app only lets glowing stones be tapped, so you can't take one by mistake.

Once a player is down to three stones, flying lets that player move a stone to any empty point, not just an adjacent one. It is on by default, matching modern German club play. You can switch it off in the Rules sheet (⋯ menu on the Board screen) for the older game; the change takes effect in your next game.

Cloister Merels calls a draw when the same position occurs for the third time, or when fifty moves pass for each side without a capture. Clubs vary on both numbers — these are simply this app's own house rule, stated up front in the Rules sheet.

Novice, Journeyman and Master all think entirely on your device and play the same way every time (no randomness). Master searches further ahead and weighs mill threats more heavily than Journeyman, which in turn plays stronger than Novice.

Yes — choose "Pass and play" in the opponent sheet. Hand the device across the table after each move; there is no online multiplayer and no account of any kind.

It's your personal journal for real merels/Mühle boards you spot scratched into stone — a cloister bench, a church porch, a step. Add a photo (camera or photo library), a name and a note. It stays only on your device.

Yes. Cloister Merels works fully offline; nothing about play, lessons, your record or Found Boards requires a network connection at any point.