★★★★★ Played 500+ matches
Sun Jul 10 2022 Greg gatesI like that it can be played portrait or landscape. I like how fast the pieces move. You don’t have to wait long to play. Fast game. I like how when all your pieces are past each other the there is an option for the computer to finish the game for you. It makes good moves for both sides then.
What I don’t like: it’s buggy. Sometimes a piece will not move according to the first or second dice. The space is empty but it will not play it and forces you to move where you don’t want to. I don’t think it’s on purpose since the computer only takes my force-played piece 50% of the time. I play on easy since I think that is most realistic to the real dice results. The medium and hard are manipulated accordingly by the dice results. No other difference. When they say the dice are random, that’s a bunch of crap. On the hard setting the computer will give itself at least three high number doubles and always “magically” land on a single open piece. Especially near the end when you are about to put all your pieces away, it will give itself an early double six advantage and at least one or two more to seal the win. Don’t believe me? Count the combined total dice points thrown for each side on the hard setting and the computer ALWAYS wins by a much higher margin. On easy the combined total is very close, as you would expect with true random. Strategy wise, there is no difference between easy, medium, and hard.
Why do I play it the most? It’s fast, 2 orientations, and the easy setting is realistic with the computer having smart strategic moves. Weird that other backgammon games can’t provide the same advantages.
★★★★★ Algorithm favors the computer
Sun Mar 20 2022 Hotel wizWhen playing a one player game, the algorithm is set to give the computer what it needs to put your chip on the bar or get off the bar. While it takes several rolls for me to get off the bar it will only take the computer 1 to 2 rolls depending on the number of slots I have open. The computer might have 2 slots blocked and that is the numbers the I roll while I will have 1 slot open in the home area for the computer to use to get off the bar and it will roll that slot. The number of doubles also favors the computer. I normally only get them when I can’t use them. I had to laugh, I had 1 chip by itself in my home area. There was a stack of 6 beside it and I rolled a 1 & 6. No mater how I tried I couldn’t move a chip from the stack of 6 one spot to protect my vulnerable chip. I was close to winning. I had to move another chip that left 2 other chips in danger. Of course the computer landed on 2 chips and sent them to the bar and the computer won the game. It is amazing how the computer can be behind and get enough doubles to win the game. I have given up the on the idea of winning against the computer. Now I try to just get one chip in before the computer wins. It was too depressing to try to win, so I had to change my thought to I will try to get one chip in before the computer wins. That way I can laugh when I see the computer get multiple double rolls the the exact roll that it needs.
★★★★★ Good App, But Die Rolls Are Not Random (Tested!)
Wed Aug 11 2021 musicstudent14Overall, the app works well, and is easy to use. This is my favorite backgammon app as far as interface and design. When playing against hard AI though, it seems like die rolls are not random, with the computer often getting an amazing roll after offering 2x and I accept. That may just be the frustration of losing skewing my memory, but it also seems like matches start with a 4-2 roll more than any other.
UPDATE: The seven matches I played after originally writing this review all started 4-2. Seven matches in a row is significant enough that it doesn’t seem random. I believe there’s a 13.3% chance of rolling a 4-2 combination on the opening throw. The chances of doing that seven times in a row is incredibly low. I wanted to test to see if I could reproduce this. I started a match, and rolled 4-2. I surrendered the rest of the games in the match, and started another. Doing this three times in a row resulted in three more 4-2 rolls to open each match. That totals ten matches in a row that have all started with a 4-2 roll.
Either the developers are lying when they say die rolls are random, or the algorithm they’re using to randomize has a bug they aren’t aware of. There’s a good chance die rolls during the games are random, and only the first throw is not random. It’s hard to test randomness once you get into the game.
★★★★★ Random Dice? Ha!
Mon Dec 13 2021 EscapesUpdate: I have to say the UI of this game is the best of all backgammon games out there. 5 Stars for that.
The game still needs work, thus my 3 star review. Sure when you play a live opponent the dice seem to be random, and I win as much as I lose based on the merit of the real opposing player. However, contrary to the developers response that the dice are random when playing the AI, that is just Bull S—t. I have now played hundreds of games. And it is not random that when I am slightly ahead that the AI rolls either doubles or high rolls, ie 6-5 and I am getting low rolls, ie 3-1 or if I do get doubles, 1-1. Seriously, the developers are so condescending to the players reviewing the game. Their AI implementation is just bad. I have played games where I leave random pieces open and guess what? No matter which piece I leave open the AI just happens to get a roll that takes BOTH pieces off the board! Then when the AI has filled in all but 2 spots on the inner board, I can roll 5-10 times without getting back on while the AI rolls exactly the right dice to fill in the remainder of the home board. If I play a conservative game to make sure that the AI can’t take my pieces off the board it just rolls lots of double and high rolls and makes sure I get rolls that force me to leave one piece open and guess what? It rolls the exact roll to take that one piece off the board to make sure I lose. Devs: This is not random chance, as you claim. Hundreds of reviewers are seeing this. If the dice were truly random in AI mode I would see the same thing in On-line Player mode.
★★★★★ Rigged (In Certain Situations)
Fri Dec 13 2024 jmaisonetThe overall look and feel of this app is great when it comes to gameplay and aesthetics. The issues with this and some other apps is the (rightfully so) feeling that the dice rolls are rigged. I will explain….So for instance, you’re playing a game against what you assume is another player in the world, although I have my doubts - I think they’re mostly bots. And say you’re playing a good strategic game, but then make one small error. I was playing off my pieces when I had two in the 6 spot and I believe four in the 3 spot and six in the 1 spot. My competitor had two in the 2 spot. I roll a 6/1 and what I probably should have done was play off a piece in each spot, leaving a single piece in the 6 spot. What I did was play off one in the 6 spot and moved the single piece forward. What happened next was exactly what you think would happen. They were given the roll to take my piece and then every subsequent roll was perfect for them to block options until I had nothing. Every roll I had never game me even one spot to the point of being statistically impossible. For the longest time, they only had two areas blocked for me to re-enter and every time, I was thwarted. Fix the rigged dice roll mechanic and this would be a near perfect backgammon app.
★★★★★ COMPUTER’S “LUCKY” ROLLS
Sat Apr 15 2023 girlwithjbAlthough this app's interface and design surpass its rivals, I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the dice rolls awarded to the computer when playing solo mode. The moment in which one switches gameplay from medium to hard, there is not an increased accumulation of strategy but rather an outlandish influx of doubles and “lucky” rolls. The only way to attempt to prevail over the computer is never to leave a blot. The rolls "delivered" to the player render that feat impossible. With randomized dice rolling, that would make sense, and that is where strategy comes into play; however, 17 times out of 20, the computer is supplied with the perfect roll to hit a blot. Furthermore, whenever the AI leaves a blot, which it does numerous times, the player receives a roll in which it can hit one, 3 times out of 20. No matter how well your home board is covered, the AI gets off the bar every time in under 3 rolls. Alongside this, when it comes time to bear off, the computer is provided with perfect rolls and too many doubles of the correct number for it to be pure coincidence. So no matter how far ahead you might be, the computer overtakes you 16 times out of 20. I hope the creators can modify the advantageous AI dice rolling or fix the evidently flawed randomizing algorithm.
★★★★★ Most definitely not random rolls…
Wed Jan 24 2024 boclarkTry hard mode. Even if you play perfect strategy, the AI most definitely gives itself a way out of proportion perfect rolls exactly when needed, and quite often back to back to back. In addition, statistically, when you are trying to get back on the board, the AI will just often give you a statistically improbable amount of rolls until it lets you back on, all the while moving it’s remaining pieces, including mostly blocked pieces all the way around the board with statistically improbable roll after roll. Don’t believe me? See for yourself on hard mode. This is just lazy programming. Hard mode shouldn’t rig the game, it should just play using perfect strategy. I don’t see the point of it all.
***update*** I would love to say that they have lessens the cheating by the computer on hard mode…but nope. It is even worse with the last update. Don’t believe me. See for yourself. I mean, come on guys, either get rid of the hard mode altogether, or simply have it play using true randomized rolls, and perfect strategy. The problem is, I realistically need to NOT play with PERECT STRATEGY in order to have a chance of winning over time. It’s ridiculous that the computer will roll doubles (that almost always help) a a rate that is not statistically probable. In addition, when I am trying to get back in the board, statistically I should be able, on average to get back on the board in one roll on average if there are three open spaces. But nope, the average is much worse than that now.
People are paying for this app through subscription or one time purchase. Please quit being lazy with your programming. There is no reason to program it like this. The actual app layout is great. But anything easier than the hard mode is too easy, and the hard mode cheats so, so badly. Please consider making a change.
★★★★★ Mostly impossible
Sat Jun 19 2021 King HomerThis backgammon game is great design-wise, although there should be choices for board colors, etc. However, the so-called AI is awful. I am a superb backgammon player and the only thing that happens if you choose higher levels of skill is that the computer gets consistently excellent rolls and you do not. Almost every single time i leave one piece exposed in the starting board, especially late in the game, the computer goes nuts and lands on that piece and follows up with round after round after round of me not being able to get back on the board. Meanwhile the computer gets perfect rolls the whole time, building an impossible blockade. And if the piece stuck on the bar gets to finally move to the board, it NEVER gets an opportunity to land on a stray piece, effectively ending the game. But you have to just painfully watch the whole thing unfold. This happened over and over so many times that it is obvious the human has no chance nearly every time. Occasionally i win, yes. But all the defeats are completely one-sided and statistically nearly impossible, if the dice rolls are in fact "random" which they clearly aren't.
