Backgammon
As a classic game of strategy like Chess, Checkers, or Reversi with a set of dice to toss in an element of luck, it’s no wonder that backgammon has been played for over 5,000 years! Our free online backgammon game is simple to play with computer prompts to help develop the skills of beginners and experts alike.
For the uninitiated, the goal of backgammon is to get all of your pieces off the board before your opponent. A backgammon board is comprised of 24 long triangles called “points.” Points are invisibly numbered from 1-24 starting at 1 in the top right corner on one’s own side following a horseshoe pattern, clockwise, to 24 on the bottom right point. These are invisibly numbered because the precise point is numbered differently for each player sitting on opposite sides of the board.
Players each have 15 pieces (here in white or red) typically laid out with two on their 24-point, five on their 13-point, three on their 8-point, and five on their 6-point. Players then take turns rolling a pair of dice to move their pieces clockwise around the board, until all the pieces have been brought into one’s home board: the final six points. You can split your move into the value on each of the dice for two pieces or move one piece the entirety of the sum of your roll. You may land your piece only on an unoccupied point, unless your opponent has only one piece on the point, in which case you’ve “hit” your opponent moving her piece to the middle of the board. To get back into play, the hit opponent has to roll a number matching a free point of the same number.
Once all your pieces are gathered onto your final six points, you can start “bearing off” where your pieces will come off the board. Be the first to do this and you win!
This free online backgammon game is sure to offer tons of fun to play while developing skills in logic, strategy, counting, and subitizing.