Backgammon Duo

Robin Knip

In-app purchases

About this game

A backgammon engine that plays at world-class strength, then shows you every move you could have played better. No ads. No coins.

Backgammon is a game for two, and there are three ways to find the second player here: the computer, the person sitting opposite you, or an opponent online.

THE ENGINE
A neural network trained on more than 20 million positions analysed by GNU Backgammon and on rollouts of the positions it found hardest. Over 1000 money games judged by GNU Backgammon's own analysis, Hard plays at a Performance Rating of 0.3 to 0.4. On that scale, anything under 1 is where the strongest human players are. Cube decisions are cubeful, and match play uses a match equity table.

A REVIEW AFTER EVERY GAME
Every move is graded as an inaccuracy, a mistake or a blunder, and the better play is drawn on the board as arrows, so you see it rather than read about it. Cube decisions are graded the same way, and every game closes with your Performance Rating. Export the game as a .mat file to share it or open it in other backgammon software.

PLAY THE COMPUTER
Easy, Normal and Hard. Single games or matches to 3, 5 or 7 points, with the doubling cube and the Crawford rule. A Hint when a position defeats you, Undo while you think, and you choose to play White, Black or a random side.

DUO PLAY
Two players, one device. The board turns to whoever is on roll, so both of you play from your own side.

PLAY ONLINE
Casual and ranked matchmaking, private rooms with a four-letter code, and friends by handle with invites. Fifteen seconds a turn plus a two-minute time bank keeps games moving. Ranked games feed a rating ladder and a monthly points season; points are won from other players and cannot be bought.

DICE YOU CAN CHECK
Every game's dice are committed before the first roll and revealed when it ends, so anyone can verify that no roll was changed. A dice screen shows the statistics of your own rolls.

MADE FOR LEARNING TOO
Beginner help numbers the points, shows which die each move uses and explains why a move is not allowed. "Confirm my turn" keeps Undo open until you tap Done. A short How to play covers the rules. In English, Dutch, German and Turkish.

THE CLUB
Free: Easy and Normal, one Hard match a day, three hints a game, and three online games a day, one of them ranked. The Club adds Hard any time, unlimited hints, unlimited online and ranked play, the full review instead of the three biggest errors, and your full match history. Yearly with a 7-day free trial, or once for life. The membership follows your account to your other devices.

What’s new

First release: play the world-class engine offline, a review after every game, ranked and casual online play with fair dice, friends and private rooms.