Backgammon
Backgammon
Roll the dice and race your checkers home: classic backgammon against the computer or a friend beside you.
Board · 1-2 players
How to play
A wooden board, rattling dice and the calm of an old café, right in your pocket. Play 3, 5 or 7 point matches against an Easy, Medium or Hard computer, or face a friend on the same screen. Hit blots, close your board and turn the match around with a single gammon. If you stop halfway, your match is waiting right where you left it.
- 1At the start each side rolls one die and the higher roll goes first. After that, the player on turn rolls two dice and moves checkers by those numbers.
- 2Tap a checker, then drop it on one of the glowing targets, or drag it there. Roll a double and you play that number four times.
- 3Land on a lone enemy checker to hit it; the hit checker goes to the bar and must re-enter before anything else moves.
- 4Once all your checkers reach your home board you start bearing off. The first to bear off every checker wins the game.
- 5Finish before your opponent bears off a single checker and it is a gammon worth 2 points. First to reach the match target wins.
Keyboard
Space or Enter rolls the dice and confirms; use the arrow keys (or W A S D) to cycle through playable checkers and targets. Z or Backspace undoes, F opens achievements, Esc pauses.
Touch screen
Tap the board or the Roll button to roll. Tap a checker, then tap a glowing target or drag the checker there. Use Undo to take back a move.
Controller
With a controller connected, steer across movable checkers and their target points using the D-pad or left stick, A rolls the dice and confirms, and B undoes the last move. X opens achievements and Start pauses the match.
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About Backgammon
Backgammon has been played for centuries across coffeehouses, family gatherings and summer balconies, and few games mix luck and judgement so neatly. This version follows the rules commonly played in Turkey: each side has fifteen checkers, there is no doubling cube, and a match runs to 3, 5 or 7 points. Winning a hand earns one point, while finishing before your opponent has borne off a single checker counts as a gammon worth two.
The dice decide what is possible each turn, but you decide which checker goes where. Strong players limit the damage of a poor roll and squeeze the most out of a good one, while careless play throws away even a lucky double. The board also calls out the traditional Turkish names of each roll, so a six-five or a pair of sixes gets its familiar shout on screen.
The Easy computer is a relaxed opponent for learning the rules, Medium hits blots and builds points like a real club player, and Hard weighs every roll carefully. Twelve achievements, separate win and gammon records for each difficulty, and a running win streak give you long-term goals. There is also a two-player mode on one screen for friends who want to share the board and take turns.
Strategy and tips
- Leave as few lone checkers as possible in the opening; a blot hit near your opponent's home has to travel the whole board again.
- Try to build consecutive points in your own home board. If your opponent has a checker on the bar and all six of your home points are closed, they cannot enter and lose the turn.
- You must play as many dice as the position allows, and if only one can be used, the larger one is forced. Look ahead to see where that rule might push you.
- When you trail in the match, take more chances, because a gammon is worth two points and can swing the score. When you lead, bring your checkers home safely and avoid needless risks.
- While bearing off, avoid leaving blots in your home board if your opponent still has a checker on the bar; one late hit can turn a winning hand into a loss.
- When a die is larger than the distance to your farthest checker, that farthest checker comes off, so spreading checkers evenly across your home board speeds up the bear-off.
- If you notice a mistake, use Undo before confirming the roll; it is also a handy way to compare different plays.
Frequently asked questions
- Will an unfinished match be lost?
- No. The match is stored on this device and appears in the menu with its score, so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
- Who moves first?
- In the first hand each side rolls one die and the higher number starts; ties are rolled again. In later hands the winner of the previous hand opens.
- Is there a doubling cube?
- No. Points are fixed: a normal win is worth one and a gammon two. The first side to reach the chosen match length wins.
- Does it work well on a phone?
- Yes. Tap a checker and then a highlighted destination, or drag it there; the board scales to fit your screen.
