Backgammon
Race them home. Hit what you can.
Two players, thirty checkers, two dice, and five thousand years of family history. Backgammon is a race with a fight in the middle of it. Here is everything you need to know before you sit down.
- Free practice
- No sign-up
- Play in your browser
Join a Game Room
BackgammonGot a room code?
- Players
- 2
- You need
- A board and two dice
- Style
- Luck and strategy
- Goal
- Bear off all 15
What is Backgammon?
A race, with a fight in the middle.
Each player has fifteen checkers on a board of 24 points. You roll two dice and move your checkers round the board toward your home, while the other player moves theirs the opposite way, straight through yours.
Two checkers together make a point that the other player can’t land on. A checker on its own is a blot, and landing on it sends it back to the start. Get all fifteen home, bear them off the board, and you win.
The practice table
Try itLearn it with the dice in your hand.
Play a full game against one bot with our Classic rules. Tap a checker, then where it goes. The coach suggests a play every roll and tells you how your last turn compared.
- The coach knows the opening book, counts the shots against your blots, and explains its pick.
- Three bots: Easy, Normal, and Sharp.
- No account, no host, nothing saved.
A little history
One of the oldest games still played.
Race games played with dice on a board are thousands of years old. Backgammon’s close family includes tabula, which Romans played with the same 24 points and 15 pieces each, and nard, from ancient Persia.
The English name dates from the 1600s. The doubling cube, now part of the serious game, arrived in New York clubs in the 1920s. Our Classic rules leave it out, so every game is simply won or lost.
Fun facts
- Roll a double and you play that number four times instead of two.
- Each side starts with 15 checkers on a board of 24 points, so there are 30 checkers in all.
- A checker that is hit goes to the bar and has to come back in before you can move anything else.
- The pip count, how far your checkers still have to travel, tells you who is ahead in the race.
Why people love it
Easy to learn. Impossible to finish learning.
Every roll is a decision.
The dice decide how far you go. You decide which checkers go, and that is where games are won.
Comebacks happen.
One hit can turn a race around. No lead is safe until the last checker is off.
Short games.
A game takes about fifteen minutes, so there is always time for a rematch.
Real skill.
Luck wins a game. Skill wins most of them, and you can feel yourself getting better.
How to play
Roll. Move. Bring them home.
Setup
- Players: two. Our practice table is you against one bot.
- Checkers: fifteen each: two on your 24 point, five on your 13, three on your 8, and five on your 6.
- Direction: you move from your 24 point round to your 1 point. The other player moves the opposite way.
- First move: each player rolls one die. The higher die goes first, playing both numbers.
Winning
Bring all fifteen checkers into your home board (your 1 to 6 points), then bear them off. The first player to bear off all fifteen wins.
- 1
Roll two dice
Move one checker for each number, or one checker for both. A double plays four times.
- 2
Land on open points
You can land on an empty point, your own point, or a point with one of theirs. Two or more of theirs block it.
- 3
Hit a blot
Land on a lone checker and it goes to the bar. It has to come back in from the start before anything else of theirs moves.
- 4
Use both dice
Play both numbers if you can. If only one can be played, play the larger. If neither can, your turn is lost.
- 5
Bear off
Once all fifteen are home, a die takes a checker off its matching point. A bigger die takes one off your farthest-back point.
These are our Classic rules, and they'll be shown in every room before the game starts. Printable rules card →
Lessons
Learn it in a few minutes.
7 quick lessons, one idea each. Make the call, see why it works, and move on. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Which way home?
Your checkers are gold. Your home board is bottom right, and the numbers are your point numbers. Which way do your checkers travel?
Scoring
One game. One winner.
There is nothing to add up in Classic Backgammon: the first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins. Clubs often add gammons and the doubling cube, which are house rules.
| How the game ends | As a house rule | Classic |
|---|---|---|
| You bear off all 15 first | 1 point | You win |
| Gammon: they haven’t borne off any | 2 points | You win |
| Backgammon: none off, and one still on the bar or in your home | 3 points | You win |
| Doubling cube | Doubles the stakes | Not used |
Our Classic rules: single games with no gammons and no doubling cube. The pip count (how far your checkers still have to travel) tells you who is ahead in the race.
Strategy
Play it smart. Then play it feral.
Tip 1
Make points, especially your 5 point.
Points in your home board are hard for the bot to get past and safe for you. The 5 point is the best of them.
Tip 2
Count the shots.
Before you leave a lone checker, count the rolls that hit it. Six away or closer is a direct shot: about one roll in three.
Tip 3
Build a wall.
Points in a row (a prime) trap the bot’s back checkers. Six in a row, and they can’t get past at all.
Tip 4
Know when it’s a race.
Once nobody can hit anybody, count the pips. Ahead? Race home. Behind? You needed to hit earlier.
What would you do?
One decision. Every day.
A new Backgammon puzzle every day, the same for everyone. Solve it, then send it to the group chat and see who gets it right.
Want more? See today's puzzles for every game →
Your path to game night
Learn it here. Play it with friends.
Finish the lessons or win a practice game and you're ready to sit down at a real Backgammon table with your people.
The Feral Worlds community
Play-testing Backgammon? Tell us in Discord.
Found a bug, a rule that feels off, or a house rule your family swears by? Our Discord is where we collect play-test feedback, and where game nights are starting to happen.
Glossary
Talk like a regular.
- Point
- One of the 24 triangles. Two or more of your checkers on one make it your point, and the other player can’t land there.
- Blot
- A checker on its own. It can be hit.
- Hit
- Land on a blot. The checker goes to the bar and starts again.
- Bar
- The strip down the middle. Hit checkers wait there and must come back in before anything else moves.
- Home board
- Your 1 to 6 points. All fifteen have to be here before you bear off.
- Bear off
- Take a checker off the board from your home board.
- Pip count
- How far all your checkers still have to travel. Lower is ahead in the race.
- Prime
- Several points in a row, blocking the other player’s checkers.
- Anchor
- A point you hold in the other player’s home board.
- Dance
- Fail to bring a checker in from the bar, and lose your turn.
- Gammon
- Winning before the other player has borne off any checkers. Worth double as a house rule; not counted in Classic.
- Doubling cube
- A die marked 2 to 64 that raises the stakes. A house rule; not used in Classic.
The Feral twist
Still under the hat.
Every game can be played Classic. In Feral mode, the host writes the house rules: gammons, the doubling cube, match length, pace. We'll show you what Backgammon can do when it's ready.
In the Board Games pack
Backgammon is on the ballot.
Backers vote on which board games join the Board Games pack. Owning the pack means every one that joins is yours too.
$9.95, one time, to host every game in it. Playing is always free. Packs go on sale when the full game launches.
Backgammon is on the ballot
Save me a seat.
Hear when the Kickstarter opens so you can vote Backgammon into the Board Games pack, and when you can host it with friends.