Backgammon FAQ

Backgammon is a two-player board game that combines dice luck with real strategy. Each side has 15 checkers that travel around a board of 24 points toward a home board, hitting the opponent’s lone checkers on the way. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins.

It is one of the oldest known board games, with ancestors going back several thousand years, and it is played today from casual games at home to international tournaments.

Yes. playbackgammon.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, no real-money play, and no ads that interrupt a game.

No. The game is the website — a 100% browser-based build with no app store download and no sign-up. Your stats are saved locally in your browser, so there is no login to remember.

Boards and pieces for closely related race games have been found in the ancient Near East, and the Roman game tabula, the medieval tables, and Persian nard are all ancestors. The modern game took shape in 17th-century England, where the name backgammon is first recorded, and the doubling cube was added in 1920s New York.

Roll two dice and move your checkers toward your home board, using each die as a separate move. You may land on empty points, your own points, or points with a single opposing checker (which you hit and send to the bar). Points with two or more opposing checkers are blocked.

Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, bear them off. First to bear off all 15 wins.

It goes to the bar, and you must enter it into the opponent’s home board with a die roll before you can move anything else. If the entry point for a die is blocked by two or more of their checkers, that die cannot be used to enter. If neither die works, you lose the turn.

You can start bearing off only when all 15 of your checkers are in your home board. A die equal to a point number removes a checker from that point. If you roll a number higher than your farthest-back checker, you may bear off from your highest occupied point instead. Smaller numbers must be played inside the board.

A normal win is worth 1 point. If you win while the opponent has not borne off a single checker, that is a gammon and scores 2 points. If they have also left a checker on the bar or in your home board, it is a backgammon and scores 3 points. This game tracks your total points won by level.

If a legal way exists to play both dice you must play both. If only one die can be played, you must play the larger one whenever either could be played. The game applies this automatically and only highlights checkers with a legal move.

Roll with the Roll button, the on-board button, or R / Space. Click a checker with a gold ring, then click a lit destination. Double-click or double-tap a checker to play it with its largest legal die. U undoes, H hints, N starts a new game after one ends, and M mutes.

When both dice show the same number you play that number four times, in any combination among your checkers. Each of the four moves must be legal on its own; the game lights only the legal ones.

No. This version is played as single games without a doubling cube, so the only variation in stakes is the gammon and backgammon scoring: 1, 2, or 3 points.

Each side rolls one die at the start. The higher number moves first and plays both dice as the opening turn. Ties are rolled again.

Both. The dice decide each roll, so a weaker player can win any single game, but over many games the player with better decisions — safe plays, good blocking, correct hitting — wins consistently. That mix is why it is easy to learn and hard to master.

A pip count is the total number of points all your checkers still need to travel to bear off. A checker on your 6-point counts 6, on the bar counts 25, and so on. The lower total is ahead in the race. The HUD shows your count and the computer’s at all times.

For every roll the computer generates all legal ways to play its dice and scores the resulting positions on pip count, blots and their exposure to hits, made points, primes, and pieces borne off. Expert takes the top-scoring play. Casual chooses among the top few with some randomness. It is a heuristic evaluator rather than a neural-network engine.

Yes. Each die is rolled with your browser’s built-in pseudo-random number generator, and the computer’s dice come from the same source. There is no hidden adjustment that favors either side.

With most rolls, look to make a strong point (such as your 5-point or bar point) or safely bring builders down. Use the hint button on your first turns to see the computer’s preferred play. Avoid leaving needless blots where the computer has direct shots.

Your games played, wins, gammons, points, best streaks, and mute preference are saved locally in your browser for both Casual and Expert levels. Nothing is sent to a server. A game in progress is not saved, so finish or resign before you close the tab.

Yes. The layout is built for touch: tap a checker, then tap a highlighted point. The board fits a phone screen in portrait, with roll, undo, hint, and new game buttons right below it.

The game needs a connection to load the page the first time. After that, some browsers may keep the tab playable without a network, but there is no dedicated offline app or installer.

Open Stats from the game header and use Reset progress, then confirm with the second tap. That clears your games played, wins, points, and streaks; your sound preference stays.

Any current browser with JavaScript: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop, plus their mobile versions. If the board does not respond, update the browser or reload the page.