You’ve got fifteen pieces, a funny-looking checkerboard, two dice and only one way to win. There’s no need to worry about kings, bishops or knights, because in these backgammon games, you’re just trying to bring your little checkers home. We invite you to one of our favorite categories of free games for killing some time, where you can play against computer opponents to sharpen your backgammon skills. Enjoy backgammon games with no download and no cost, but be careful, that computer can be really tricky! Did you know that this game is thought to be five thousand years old? And you still haven’t learned how to play? Well, we will just have to fix that. Allow us to give you the crash course so that you can start your winning streak.
Alright, stay with us. Backgammon game rules sound a bit complicated at first, but once you play for five minutes, you’ll get it. The board is the same in these free backgammon games online as it is in real life. There are twenty-four spaces that look like long triangles for players to move on. Each player has fifteen pieces set up on specific triangles (easier to just see this when you start playing), and the goal is to get all of the pieces to the opposite side by rolling dice and moving them around the board. Multiple pieces can be on the same spot, and it’s a good idea, too. If a piece is alone and an opponent’s piece lands on it, it’s back to the start! This is the basic gist of our free backgammon games, but five thousand years is a long time, so plenty of variations exist.
What’s so fun about playing backgammon games for free online? It all depends on what you make of it. Once you get the hang of the game, you can choose more than one way to win. You can be a ruthless competitor or a tactical trickster. See how the board is set up? Both sides have to move through each other like people crossing the street from opposite sides – that’s what we love about these free online backgammon games. When the two sides start rushing at each other, anything can happen! It is this moment that will define what kind of backgammon player you are: ruthless, tactical, or a little bit of both.
This is what we mean when we say you have a lot of choices when playing backgammon games for free. A tidal wave of enemy checkers is heading towards you, and you have to decide how to handle it. Will you ignore them, using each roll of the dice to get as far as you can away from them, or will you pick out vulnerable targets and attack? Will you create a small group of frontrunners to push ahead, leaving the rest behind, or will you move all 15 pieces in a large group? When you really think about it, backgammon online games are a lot like going into battle. You have a lot of “troops” to move, and the enemy is everywhere: in front of you, behind you, and even intermingled with your pieces.
If this historic and addictive game of backgammon were just about getting to the end, it wouldn’t be that fun or unpredictable. It would call come down to the dice: whoever rolls the highest wins. But, since you can attack your enemy when they are most vulnerable – remember, it’s only if they have one checker alone on a piece – you can make this game super fun and exciting! Besides, we’ve added a few fun twists and turns in this online backgammon games category, which is filled with games that you can play for free. We explained to you the standard rules of the game, but that doesn’t mean you won’t come across a curveball here and there. Hey, we never said it would be the same all around! You’ll just have to take a look and see what’s in store for you.
With the element of unpredictability (the random dice, getting sent back to the start, etc.) comes the most fun thing about free online backgammon games: the comeback. There’s no better feeling. You can practically hear the computer laughing at you from the other side of the screen, because it has fourteen out of its fifteen pieces off the board already, and you’re not there yet. But, thanks to the luck of the dice, you’re able to jump the computer’s last piece, send it home, bring all your pieces in and win! It’s not every day that you get to pull off a free backgammon game comeback of this nature, but it’s a great day when you do.
Especially if you’ve never played backgammon games online before, trust us – there’s plenty to do. When you eventually master the game, however, and you want to try something else, then check out our board games category! More than just online backgammon games, there are many, many ways to play against computer opponents within this category. Fling dice, move pieces and beat your opponent. Checkers is a great place to start if you’ve been playing backgammon games for a while. As always, there’s no download, and you can play any and every game for free. Good luck!