This is it!

This December 2025 review is my latest update since 2023. I am at lever 200, for all that is worth. I play at the hardest level, for over 8,000 matches. I am almost 6:1 better than the computer. Playing it has led me to study the game seriously. I am much improved. So, my previous review stands. This indeed the one: Looking for a great inexpensive backgammon game. Try this one, no need to try any other. The game has been further improved is even more challenging. My last review was in 2022. In an uncorrected recent review sent in error, I mis quoted this date. I promised in that review to send another review when I could regain my status as 5 to one, playing the hardest level against the computer. January 2023 saw me regain my 5:1 position. I am now heading fast to a 6:1 status against the computer. I have reached level #143. The random dice generator is excellent. However, the game is programmed to reward good play and punish bad. One weakness I take advantage of is, if I am about to be gammoned or backgammoned, I simply hit forfeit and lose only what’s on the doubling cube. I avoid losing the gammon or backgammon. After some more study, I am now fast approaching my 6:1 goal against the computer at hardest level. Want a challenge, this is it! (Please pardon any typing errors. Thanks.)

Always my game of choice

This specific backgammon app was the first I downloaded and it's my go-to game. I've played it for YEARS, first on my old desktop computer, then my smartphone as well as iPad. It's provided countless hours of entertainment while waiting for dr appts, during sleepless nights, riding public transportation, and whenever I need a stress reliever. I'm not a backgammon pro; I don't play this expecting to be challenged in a difficult way nor do play just so I can win every time. While some seem to provide great detail and in-depth reviews regarding the technical aspect, I just know what I like. For many years, through many upgrades, I've enjoyed this particular game of backgammon by the app developer. As the saying goes, don't fix what ain't broke! This is a reliable app, it always works, I've never experienced glitches, so I'm sticking with what I know is a winner.

This review is ONLY about playing against the computer.

I have been an avid backgammon player for over 10 years. I gave up online playing because of the droppers. I now play only with this app or with humans. So this review in only for the backgammon software. I play daily. After playing enough, the outcome of the game gets pretty predictable and the computer's strategy becomes obvious: if you are winning too much, the dice your wings, but not so much as to become silly. But, if you double early in the game, this will not happen. This is just an example. As a computer scientist this made the game more fun, not less. Every software has regularities, like every human has biasses. Discovering them and using them to win is the real fun. This holds for any game. If you want to beat Messi at soccer, you need to try and find his systematic weaknesses. I gave you 4 stars because only simpletons fall for the 5-star reviews. Well... maybe only simpletons read reviews.... Excuse me for possible typos: I have no inclination to correct my writings. Cheers.

Nice Game, But Biased Toward AI

Nice visuals, and accurately responsive to touch. But...As other users have said, on the "Easy" level (the only one I have tried thus far), the proportion of doubles rolled by the AI far exceeds chance, given the proportion rolled by the player. I don't have to be a statistician (although I am one) to know that, if these dice rolls are random, there is a very, very slim likelihood of the AI getting 10 doubles in three games, when I rolled only 2. Is it mathematically *possible*? Of course it is. So is winning the lottery ten times in a row or getting hit by asteroids...multiple times. But given the other comments along this line, the data overwhelmingly suggest a strong bias in favor of the house. To have this bias so blatant at the "Easy" level rather defeats the purpose of an "Easy" level, and would be annoying at all levels. I am an experienced backgammon player and have won enough "real life" games that I'm not whining because I lost a few. I just don't like a blatantly stacked deck! I hope that the developer will adjust the algorithm to give players *on average, across games* as many doubles as the AI receives.

WAS a great backgammon program

I’ve been playing this game every day for 3 - 4 years. I was very pleased with the program. It was part of my daily routine. Usually had a dozen games going at once with real people in the multiplayer mode. I could play for a while, then leave in the middle of games and come back later to pick up where I left off ... until this past weekend! It looks like the developers decided to change things. I had 11 games going with several people and now there’s no way to get back to them, they’re gone. It appears that the only way to play someone is in real time. And if you leave before completing the game, there’s no way to come back later and finish ... it’s gone. And you can no longer “Undo” a move before submitting it because the “Undo” button has been removed. Unless the developers are in the middle of a redesign and will be restoring some of the former features, what was once a great backgammon program has, in my opinion, gone down in flames. Oh, the reason I give it even 1 star is because they added the option to “ Chat” with an opponent ... and you can still play with the computer. PLEASE bring back the former version. I miss it.

Graphics issue on M1 iPad

I’ve used this game for quite a few years. It plays pretty well and I’ve enjoyed it. Some people claim the AI cheats, but I’ve seen that same criticism leveled at just about every backgammon app ever. That said, I recently upgraded to a M1 iPad Air and the graphics went completely wonky. The pieces no longer overlay correctly with the board; they’re shifted out from center toward the sides, with the misalignment increasing the closer you get to the sides. It’s far enough off that it’s difficult to tell where you’re moving the piece. Also, the doubling die has disappeared completely. And less important, the board flipped left to right, but I see from the screenshots that’s how it’s supposed to look, so I have no idea why it was the opposite on my previous two iPads. I deleted the app and reinstalled, but nothing changed. I see that for some reason the developer has three backgammon apps on the store. I’d be willing to purchase a different one, but they all look like they’re basically the same and were all updated at the same time (11 months ago, prior to the M1 iPad), so I don’t have faith that they don’t all share this graphics issue. I’ll probably just try an app from another developer. Note: Tried reporting this through the Apple developer channel, but it claims I don’t have the app. Not sure what that’s about, but it led me to post this in public. Giving it three stars because it’s good when it works, but YMMV.

Disappointing, here’s why.

I was happy to pay the three dollars to not have to deal with advertisements. That also allows you options that you will not get in the free games available online. There are three levels: easy, medium and hard. I have a pretty good grasp of the game and a fairly good amount of experience at playing it, especially the last three years and my skills have gotten considerably better over time. I would say that the medium level is fairly accurate in terms of the challenge and the AI ability. However, at the hard level it seems pretty clear that what makes it hard is that the AI frequently gets doubles when rolling the dice; far more often than the player and definitely more often than when it is said that the medium level of difficulty. I was not hasty coming to this decision, rather I played many games and observed what was happening. Getting doubles does not equate to skill. The win to lose ratio at the hard level is simply ludicrous, especially when compared to the other backgammon games online set on the difficult level. I get skill. I get luck. I deleted the game. If you’re just learning it may be fine and if you have moderate to medium skills you will definitely be fairly challenged but playing it at the “hard“ level is very unrealistic for the reason I pointed out here. Otherwise, I like the way the game is designed and played. Too bad, 😕

Too easy and Dislike New Challenge Interface

I play this game a lot on the most difficult setting. But, during the end game, the app plays for position instead of maximizing removal of pieces. After mine and the app's pieces have past each other and there is no chance of hitting an opponents piece, I may have all my pieces in home and removing them while the app stacks pieces outside of home slowing it's chance to remove pieces. Another poor strategy the app uses is when all its pieces are home, if the dice roll doesn't allow removing two pieces, it make stack pieces on already occupied points instead of covering open points encase the point number is rolled later. I dislike the the new challenge interface. I don't care about the points accumulation. I tried the game that uses the points and was bored by it. I want a setting option to turn off the challenges.

Play the #1 Backgammon on the App Store! Now with the best online Backgammon experience with background match-making and two ways to play online.

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A digital version of Cribbage from the same team that brought you Hearts Tournament, Spite and Malice, and Gin Rummy.

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