Backgammon: brass against tires, with whoever you want

About Backgammon

It is regular backgammon with the table rules: each side has 15 checkers running in opposite directions around the 24 points, all of them have to reach the home board (the last 6 points) and then leave the board — first to bear off all 15 wins. The table just happens to be Dália’s workshop: the board is a steel plate lying flat, with points of dark rust and bright steel, your checkers are brass drum lids, your opponent’s are miniature tires, and the dice were welded from scrap. Against the machine you face the Steel Flames villains: the Tamer plays any old way, the Driver and the Jailer judge the position left after the turn, and the Executive works out your reply to each of the 21 possible dice rolls before he moves. With a friend it is one link per match: the room lives on the site and each of you plays at your own pace — the game tells you when the other player moved, you can watch if the room is full, and the dice are the same on both devices (nobody gets to re-roll until a good number shows up).

One of Selminha's ideas

“Backgammon is a bar game, a sidewalk game, a kitchen-table game — fast, part luck, part brains. I wanted one like that, made of scrap, to play with people who are far away: each of you rolls in your own time, and the board waits.”

How to play Backgammon, and tips for beating the machine

1. Tap your checker, then the destination point. Destinations light up with the die number; to bear a checker off, tap the OFF tray to the right of the board. Tap the same checker again to let go. On a computer, click or use the arrow keys/WASD and J or Enter; on a gamepad, the D-pad and A or X.
2. Opening: each side rolls one die; the higher roll starts and plays both numbers (a tie is rolled again). After that, two dice per turn: each die is one move of one checker — the same checker twice or two different ones — and doubles play four times. You must use both dice when you can; if only one fits, the higher one counts. No legal move and the turn passes on its own.
3. Your checkers (brass) run from point 24 down to point 1; your opponent’s run the other way. A point with 2 or more enemy checkers is closed. A lone enemy checker can be hit: it goes to the bar in the middle of the board, and its owner must bring it back in through your home board before moving anything else.
4. Bearing off: once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board (points 1 to 6), each die bears off the checker on the matching point; if that point is empty, the die moves a checker inside the home board or, when all your checkers sit on lower points, bears off the farthest one. First to bear off all 15 wins. The panel shows how many pips each side still has to travel.
5. Pick your character (Dália, Bruto Vale or Kiko Faísca). Against the machine, then pick your opponent — 1 Tamer (very easy), 2 Driver (easy), 3 Jailer (medium), 4 Executive (hard).
6. Playing with someone: tap PLAY WITH SOMEONE, type your name, then copy and send the link. Whoever opens it picks one of the two remaining characters, types a name and joins with the tires. The match is saved: close it and come back whenever you like. The game tells you when the other player joined or moved (with the dice they rolled); you can resign and, if your opponent goes more than two days without moving, close the match for absence. There is no draw in backgammon. Rooms with no moves for 7 days expire. Room full? You can watch. P or Esc open the menu; M toggles sound; F toggles full screen.

The table rules

Goal

Bring all 15 checkers into your home board (the last 6 points), then bear them off. First to bear off all 15 wins.

Dice

Each die is one move; doubles play four times. You must use both dice when you can — if only one fits, the higher one. No legal move and the turn passes.

Closed point

Two or more enemy checkers on a point: nobody lands there.

Hitting

A lone enemy checker on a point can be hit: it goes to the bar and re-enters through its owner’s entry board before anything else moves.

Bearing off

Only with all 15 at home. Each die bears off the checker on that point; with none there, it moves inside the home board or bears off the farthest checker when all of them sit closer.

Opening

One die each: the higher roll starts and plays both numbers. A tie is rolled again.

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Tap or click the checker and the point (OFF tray to bear off) · arrows or WASD move the cursor along the points, J or Enter select · P or Esc menu · M sound · F full screen · gamepad supported: D-pad moves the cursor, A or X select, Start opens the menu, Back toggles sound.

Touch

Phone sideways and in full screen (the board is wide, like the real thing). Tap the checker and the point; the OFF tray sits to the right of the board; a resign button below it. Invite with COPY: paste the link wherever you like (WhatsApp, text, e-mail). With the tab in the background the title blinks when it is your turn and, if you allow it, a notification comes through.

Against the machine and by invite

Four villains

The Tamer (very easy) plays any old way half the time; the Driver (easy) picks by the position left over and slips up 1 time in 7; the Jailer (medium) already works out your reply to all 21 rolls for his best candidate plays; the Executive (hard) does that for every possible play and never slips — counting the real odds of each blot getting hit, primes and a closed home board.

Invite

One link per match. Whoever opens it joins as your opponent; the room lives on the site and each of you plays when you can. A personal link (in the menu) carries your seat to another device. Up to 10 open games per device — past that, the game lists yours and you close one with a tap.

Same dice on both sides

Each turn’s dice come from a generator tied to the room code: both devices and the server arrive at the same numbers — there is no re-rolling.

Notices

Joined, moved (with the dice rolled), passed, resigned — on screen, with sound and vibration; with the tab in the background the title blinks and, if you allow it, a notification goes out.

Watching

Room full? You can watch. Everyone sees how many spectators there are.

Rematch

Match over? You both stay at the table, with the result on screen and the question "Another game with NAME?". Both say yes and a new one starts in the same room, as many times as you like — anyone watching keeps watching.

No points

You win or you lose — there is no draw in backgammon. The panel shows how many checkers each side has borne off and how many pips are left.

There is no ranking in this game: between invited friends it would make no sense.