Backgammon Online Game - Play Free

The backgammon online games on this page are fun browser-based versions of backgammon. They are part of the free online brain games collection.

To begin, click the Small, Medium, or Large button under the picture of the game. This opens the game in a new window.

Other free backgammon games on this site include Backgammon Multiplayer Option and MarketJS Backgammon.

The object of backgammon is to move your backgammon checkers around to the other side of your home board. To win, bear all your checkers off the board before your opponent.

Backgammon Online - Instructions

Backgammonia is playable from this page, as is Backgammon Strong AI, a variation with configurable options.

NOTE: The instructions below are for the old Adobe Flash version of the game.

Backgammon checkers are also known as draughts, stones, men, counters, pawns, discs, pips, or chips.

All brain games on this website, including this one, are free to play anytime. If you like this backgammon online game, you might enjoy the other free Board Games on this site, such as Easy Chess and Battleship.

If you're in the market for a backgammon board, check out this classic backgammon set on Amazon. It's a very nice starter set at a discounted price.

HOW TO PLAY. Backgammon is a popular board game with ancient roots. In this online backgammon game, you can either play against the computer. Or, play in Two-Player mode against another person in the same room.

Choose your mode from the 247 Backgammon main menu. To start a game against the computer, click the Play button. To play against a friend (Two-Player mode), click the Pass & Play button.

Next, the 247 Backgammon online game "options" screen (see below) displays so you can set your game preferences. Select color of your checkers, the number of points to play to, and the difficult level when playing against the computer.

On the options screen, you can also decide whether to play with a Doubling Cube, and decide if you want available moves to be automatically highlighted during game play.

Starting Backgammon Game Play

After setting your game options, click the START button on the options screen begin playing.

First you need to determine who goes first. To do this, each player rolls one die.

Click the blue Roll Dice button to roll the dice. Whoever rolls highest gets start off the game.

For example, if I roll a 6 and the computer rolls a 1, then I get to go first.

To begin your turn, click the Resume button to close the "wins the roll" window. If the computer wins the roll, it will then make its first move automatically.

On your turn, click the Roll Dice button to roll the dice. Then move your backgammon pieces based on the value shown on the dice.

Rules of Backgammon

This online game follows standard backgammon rules. Use the value shown on your roll to move your checkers from your "home board" and clockwise through the four quadrants. Then bear off your checkers into the trays.

Your home board includes the first and fourth quadrants. The second and third quadrants are known as the "outer board".

To progress through the backgammon online game, move your backgammon checkers from lower right to upper right, moving clockwise through the boards.

On your turn, first roll the two dice. You can either move one checker the total shown on the dice, or more two checkers individually based on the pips shown on the separate dies.

To move a checker, first click the checker. Then click the location you want the checker to go to.

You can only move a checker to a triangle location that matches the number of jumps available to you, as shown on your roll of the dice. The triangles themselves are called "points". There are 24 points (triangles) on the backgammon board.

For example, suppose you roll a 4 and a 1. You can either move one of your checkers 5 spaces, or you can move one checker 4 spaces and another checker 1 space.

HITS. An important strategy for slowing down your opponent is a checker capture move known as a "hit".

Any single checker, known as a "blot," is vulnerable to be hit. On your turn, complete your move by landing one of your checkers on an opponent's single blot checker. This removes their checker from the board.

NOTE: To perform a hit, first click your own piece, the one you want to move. Clicking your piece highlights your opponent's single piece that you can reach with your given roll. See the image at right for an illustration of this.

Congratulations - that's a hit. The captured checker is placed on the "bar", the wall separating the home board from the outer board.

Hit checkers must be returned to the board by using rolls of the dice on the player's next turn.

DOUBLES. If you roll doubles, then the dice quadruple. Rolling doubles means you can move twice as far during that move.

For instance, suppose you roll two 5's. Then four 5's display automatically. Instead of moving 10 pips (5 + 5), you can move 20 pips (5 + 5 + 5 + 5) on that move.

Note: A "pip" is the name for a dot on the dice. When you roll a 6, you've got 6 pips.

Pips also represents the distance between two locations on the backgammon board. When you start the game, "167" pips displays next to your name.

The number of pips counts down as you roll the dice and take your turns. For example, if you rolled a 5 and a 2 the first turn (total of 7 pips), then your PIP total decreases by 7 when that turn is complete.

Backgammon Online Game - Options Screen

This online backgammon game has about every option and feature you'd ever want. The configurable options screen appears when you click the Play button (You vs. Computer) or the Pass & Play button (Two-Player mode).

This screen is where you set up the backgammon online game. You can change your preferences each time you play, or use the same options.

Here are the options available:

• Player Color. Click the red or white checker to indicate which color you want to play. Type your name into the box on the right.


Options screen

• Play To. Click the number of backgammon points you want to play to. Choices are 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, or 15.

• Difficulty (vs. Computer only). Choose whether you want Easy, Medium, Hard, or Expert difficulty.

  If you've never played backgammon, start with Easy mode.

• Doubling Cube. This is an advanced feature. Click the On or Off button to indicate whether you want to use a Doubling Cube during the game.

  A Doubling Cube is used to track stakes in the game but is not required to play.

• Move Highlights. For beginners, this helpful feature automatically highlights available moves during game play.

  When this feature is active, checkers that can be moved based on your roll of the dice will glow. Click one of these checkers to see available landing spots on the board.

The image above shows the Human vs. Computer options screen in the 247 Backgammon online game. The options screen for Pass & Play (Two-Player) mode looks the same. Except there's no Difficulty section, of course.

Main Screen Backgammon Options

In addition to the configurations on the options screen, there are several other features accessible from the main 247 Backgammon online game screen.

To access these features, click the black buttons on the upper right of the game. These include:

• Light Bulb. This is the Hint feature. Click this button during backgammon game play to view an animation indicating a recommended move based on your roll of the dice.

• Left Arrow. Click this arrow button to Undo your move.

• Bulleted List. Click this button to exit the game and return to the main menu screen.

  If you then click the Play or Play & Pass button, you'll have the option to either Resume your current game or start a new one.

• Question Mark. Click this button to view a brief summary of the rules of backgammon.

• Speaker. Click this button to mute the backgammon game's sound effects.

As you can see, this 247 backgammon online game really does have tons of features. You'd be hard pressed to find many online backgammon games as well made as this one.

Like most board games, playing backgammon is a great way to keep your brain sharp. Board games train brain skills such as concentration, visual perception, and strategic thinking.

Be sure to play board games like backgammon regularly to keep your brain in top shape!

Published: 03/01/2015
Last Updated: 03/17/2022