Feral Worlds: Tabletop Games · Board Games · Classic rules
Backgammon
Race them home. Hit what you can.
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.
How to play
- 1Roll two dice. Move one checker for each number, or one checker for both. A double plays four times.
- 2Land 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.
- 3Hit 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.
- 4Use both dice. Play both numbers if you can. If only one can be played, play the larger. If neither can, your turn is lost.
- 5Bear 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.
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.
Scoring
| How the game ends | Classic |
|---|---|
| You bear off all 15 first | You win |
| Gammon: they haven’t borne off any | You win |
| Backgammon: none off, and one still on the bar or in your home | You win |
| Doubling cube | 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.
Key terms
- 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.