18th century games: nine man morris

In Freedom’s Ring, Temperance Hayes loves games of strategy—whether they’re board games or games of the heart. Check out all the games we refer to!

Nine man morris
One game they mention several times in the book is nine man morris (also called nine men’s morris, mill(s), cowboy checkers and more). Each player places 9 pieces (merels) on the morris board. You can slide one piece one position per turn. Like tic-tac-toe, your objective is to get three in a row, which is called a ‘mill.’ When you do, you can remove one of your opponent’s pieces.

Naturally, with Temperance hunting for a husband, it certainly felt like a fun game to reference! Nine man morris became a favorite for Temperance.