Backgammon Bay Free backgammon against a bot, made for phones
Play full backgammon against a bot on a board folded for your phone. Hit, bear off, go for gammons and use the optional doubling cube.
About Backgammon Bay
Backgammon Bay is a free online backgammon game for one player against a computer opponent, and it runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer with nothing to install. It follows the standard rules: you and the bot each race fifteen checkers around the board and bear them off, rolling two dice each turn and moving one checker for each number. Land on a lone enemy checker and you hit it, sending it to the bar, where it has to re-enter before its owner can move anything else. A point held by two or more checkers is blocked, so building a wall of made points is how you trap the other side.
The board is folded for portrait play. Instead of twelve narrow points across, you get four rows of six wide points that read like lines of text: 24 to 19, 18 to 13, a bar strip in the middle, then 12 to 7 and 6 to 1. Every point, the bar and the bear-off tray are big, comfortable tap targets. Tap a checker and the places it can go glow; tap one to move, or drag the checker there. If a roll leaves only one legal move the game plays it for you, a combined move with one checker can be made by tapping the far destination, and Undo takes back any step until the turn ends. The rules about using both dice, the larger die when only one can be played, entering from the bar and bearing off only when everything is home are all enforced for you.
Choose a Quick game for a single game, or a Match to 3, 5 or 7 points. In a match the doubling cube is on: before you roll you can offer a double, and your opponent must take, doubling the stakes and owning the cube, or drop and lose the points at stake. A gammon, where the loser has borne off nothing, is worth double, and a backgammon, where the loser still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, is worth triple, times the cube. You can turn the cube on or off in any mode.
Three opponents play three levels. Shelly the crab scuttles wherever the dice point and never doubles. Otto the otter builds points and counts the race. Captain Brine the gull weighs every shot, looks a roll ahead at what you could do to him, and uses the cube. The dice are never weighted: every roll comes from one seeded fair generator.
The Daily Bay gives everyone the same dice and the same opponent on a given day, and the fewest turns to win ranks highest on the daily leaderboard. Play it three days running for a streak achievement.
Tips: make your 5-point and bar point early, keep a lone checker out of range of the enemy's back checkers, hit when it also builds a point, and count the race before you double. Use the Hint button when you are unsure.
How to play
Tap the dice to roll. Tap one of your cream checkers that glows, then tap a glowing spot to move it, or drag it there. Tap the bear-off tray under the board when all your checkers are home. A forced single move plays by itself, and Undo takes steps back until the turn ends. Before you roll, tap Double (match play) to offer the cube. Space or R rolls, D doubles, U undoes, H hints, and the left and right arrows pick a checker and a destination with the down arrow to move. P or Esc pauses and M mutes.
Controls and devices
- Controls: Touch, Mouse, Keyboard
- Works on: phones, tablets and computers
- Screen: portrait orientation
- Price: free, no download or sign-up
FAQ
- What are the rules?
- Standard backgammon. You move from point 24 down to point 1 (top left to bottom right on the folded board), hit lone checkers, enter from the bar first, use both dice when you can (the larger one if only one can be played), and bear off once all fifteen checkers are in your home board.
- Why is the board folded?
- A normal board has twelve narrow points across, which is too small to tap on a phone. Folding it into four rows of six gives every point a wide tap target. The points are numbered in the corners.
- How do the doubling cube and gammons work?
- Before you roll you may offer a double. Your opponent takes (the stakes double and they own the cube) or drops (you win the current stake). A gammon is worth two games and a backgammon three, multiplied by the cube. The cube is on in matches and off in quick games unless you change it.
- Are the dice fair?
- Yes. Every roll comes from one seeded uniform generator and is never weighted, for you and for the bots.
- What is the Daily Bay?
- One game against the same opponent with the same dice stream for everyone on a given day. Win in as few turns as you can to rank on the daily leaderboard.
- Will my game be saved if I close the page?
- Yes. An unfinished game or match is saved after every move and offered as Continue on the menu. Records and your daily streak are saved on this device, and to your account when you are signed in.
Credits
- Game design, code, sound and art direction: Playora Games
- Generated art: UI skin, dice, checker textures, bot portraits and backgrounds: Codex CLI image tool (OpenAI) (Generated by the Codex CLI image tool)