Backgammon Game
Race your 15 checkers home and bear them off before the computer does.
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Game information
- Price
- Free
- Skills
- StrategyMental MathProbability
- Players
- 1 or 2 players
- Platforms
- Phone / Tablet / Computer
How to play Backgammon
You play the purple checkers and move them from the top right of the board, along the top to the left, down, and back along the bottom to your home board at the bottom right. The red checkers travel the same path the other way. Press Start and each side rolls one die: the higher number goes first and plays both of those numbers. After that, tap the dice to roll on your turn.
Every checker you are allowed to move glows. Tap one and the places it can go light up, then tap where you want it to land. Each die is a separate move, so a 5 and a 3 can move one checker 5 and another 3, or one checker 8 in two steps. You cannot land on a point holding two or more red checkers. Land on a point with just one red checker and you hit it: it goes to the bar in the middle and has to start again. When all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you can bear them off into the tray, and the first player to bear off all 15 wins.
How to set up a backgammon board
The board in the game starts set up, so you can copy it onto a real board. With your home board at the bottom right, put 2 checkers on the far right point of the top row (your 24 point), 5 on the far left of the top row (your 13 point), 3 on the bottom row two points left of the middle bar (your 8 point) and 5 on the bottom row just right of the bar (your 6 point). The other player sets up the mirror image on their side. The small numbers along the edges of our board are your point numbers, which makes the setup easy to check.
Rules the game handles for you
The trickiest rules in backgammon are the ones beginners argue about, and the game applies them every time. A double is played four times. If you can play both dice, you must, even when that means choosing a different checker than you wanted. If only one die can be played, it has to be the larger one when that is possible. A checker on the bar comes back in before anything else moves. And when bearing off, a bigger number than you need takes off the checker farthest from the tray, but only when there is nothing farther back. When none of your dice can be used, the game says so and passes the turn.
Simple tips that win games
Keep your checkers in pairs: two or more on a point are safe, and a lone checker can be hit. Build points in your home board, because a red checker sent to the bar has to come back in there, and closed points keep it out. Count your pips, the total number of spaces your checkers still have to move: the panel beside the board keeps both counts, and the player with the lower number is ahead in the race. That running total is real mental math, and it is why board games like this one are worth a place next to schoolwork.
Playing the computer or a friend
Every game starts against the Easy computer, which a beginner can beat. Medium plays well but slips now and then, and Hard always takes the best play it can find. You see everything the computer does: its dice tumble on its turn, the checker it chooses is marked, and you watch it travel to its new point. Choose 2 Players to play purple against red on one screen, passing a tablet across a table or playing on a classroom board. If your child enjoys thinking a few moves ahead, chess for kids is a good next step.
Questions parents and teachers ask
How do you play backgammon?
Each player has 15 checkers and moves them around the board in opposite directions, by the numbers on two dice, toward their own home board. Once all 15 are home, you start taking them off the board, which is called bearing off. The first player to bear off all 15 wins. A checker standing alone on a point can be hit by the other player and sent to the bar in the middle, and it has to come back in from the start before you move anything else.
How do you set up a backgammon board?
From your side, with your home board at the bottom right: put 2 checkers on your 24 point (the far right of the top row), 5 on your 13 point (the far left of the top row), 3 on your 8 point and 5 on your 6 point (both on the bottom row). The other player sets up the mirror image. That is 15 checkers each, and the board in this game starts set up exactly that way, so you can copy it onto a real board.
What happens when you roll a double?
You play the number four times instead of twice. Roll two 4s and you have four moves of 4 to make, with one checker or several. It is one of the biggest swings in the game, especially near the end, when a double can bear off four checkers at once.
What does it mean when no move is possible?
Sometimes the dice show numbers you cannot use, for example when the points you would land on each hold two or more of the other color. The rules say you play as much of the roll as you can, and if you cannot move at all, your turn passes. The game checks this for you and says so, so nobody has to argue about it.
Which level should my child start on?
Start on Easy, which is where every game begins. The Easy computer plays about half its rolls at random, the way a beginner moves the first checker that looks right, so a child who keeps their checkers in pairs will usually win. Medium plays well with the odd careless roll, and Hard always picks the best play it can find, which makes it a good opponent for a parent.