Checkers: drums against tires, with whoever you want

About Checkers

It is the checkers you know, on the 8×8 board, and you pick the rules in the menu: American (the checkers you grew up with, and the default on this page), Brazilian, Russian, Spanish, Italian or Thai — each one changes what men and kings can do, and the game screen and the pause menu say which one is on. In all of them a man moves one square diagonally forward, capturing is mandatory and pieces are kinged on the far row. In an invite game the rules are the room creator's, and whoever joins sees them before accepting. The pieces are things from Dália's workshop — drums on one side, tires on the other — and the king is a different piece: two objects stacked, brighter, with a crown on top. Before playing you choose who sits at the table for you: Dália, Bruto Vale or Kiko Faísca, the Steel Flames heroes, who celebrate every capture and wince at every piece lost. Against the computer, you pick your opponent: the Tamer (very easy) plays any old way, the Driver (easy) avoids giving pieces away, the Warden (medium) looks five moves ahead and the Executive (hard) thinks hard about every move — each with his own lines when he captures, loses a piece or loses the game. To play a friend, create an invite: the game makes a link; whoever opens it joins as your opponent and picks a character from the two left — yours stays reserved for you. The game is kept on the site, so you do not both need to be online: each plays their turn when they can, and the game tells you when the other player moved. Anyone who opens the link to a full room can watch. No points: you win, lose or draw — the scoreboard shows how many pieces each side captured and how many kings each has.

In Selminha's words

“Checkers is the board game everyone learned from someone. I wanted ours: drums and tires on a steel plate, the villains across the table, and a link to invite anyone you want — no sign-up, no app.”

How to play Checkers, and tips for beating the computer

1. Tap your piece, then the destination square. Possible squares light up green; when a capture is mandatory, only that capture shows (and the piece to be captured is marked). On a computer, click or use the arrows/WASD and J or Enter; on a gamepad, d-pad and A or X.
2. Pick your character (Dália, Bruto Vale or Kiko Faísca). Playing against the computer? Then pick your opponent — 1 Tamer (very easy), 2 Driver (easy), 3 Warden (medium), 4 Executive (hard). You take the drums and move first.
3. Playing a friend? Tap PLAY A FRIEND, type your name, then copy the link and send it. Whoever opens it picks one of the two characters left, types their name and plays the tires. The game is saved: close it and come back anytime through the same link.
4. During a game with a friend, you get an alert when the other player joins, moves or captures; you can offer a draw, resign and, if your opponent has not moved for over two days, tap END GAME: PLAYER AWAY. Rooms with no move for 7 days expire. A full room can be watched — everyone sees how many spectators there are.
5. End of the game: whoever leaves the other with no pieces or no moves wins. Draw: 20 consecutive king-only moves without a capture, or the same position three times. P or Esc pauses; M toggles sound.

Full rules for Checkers
More games to play with friends online

The six rule sets (pick one in the menu)

Brazilian

The standard in Brazil. Men capture forward and backward; kings move and capture any distance; when there is a choice, you must take the capture that removes the most pieces.

American checkers

The American and British game. Men capture forward only; kings move one square; any capture will do.

Russian

Like Brazilian, but any capture will do, and a man that reaches the last row mid-capture is crowned on the spot and keeps capturing as a king.

Spanish

Men capture forward only; kings move and capture any distance; you must take the biggest capture.

Italian

Men capture forward only and cannot take kings; kings move one square; you must take the biggest capture and, if two captures are equal, the one that takes more kings.

Thai

Eight pieces a side (two rows); men capture forward only; kings move and capture any distance; any capture will do.

What all six have in common

Man

Moves one square diagonally forward and captures by jumping over the enemy piece.

King

Crowned on the last row. In each rule set the king moves as described above.

Mandatory capture

If you can capture, you must. Captured pieces leave the board only at the end of the move.

End

You win by leaving the other side with no pieces or no moves. Draw: 20 consecutive king-only moves without a capture, or the same position repeated three times.

The rule set you picked shows at the top of the screen during the game and in the pause menu. Against the computer, all four villains play any rule set.

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Tap or click the piece and the square · arrows or WASD move the cursor, J or Enter selects · P or Esc pauses · M sound · F full screen · gamepad friendly: d-pad moves the cursor, A or X selects, Start pauses, Back toggles sound.

Touch

Portrait and full screen on phones. Tap the piece and the square; resign and draw buttons below the board. Invite with COPY: paste the link wherever you like (a text, a group chat…).

Against the computer and by invite

Four villains

Tamer (very easy), Driver (easy) and Warden (medium): the computer looks 1, 2 and 5 moves ahead, and the first two still slip up on purpose now and then. Executive (hard): thinks for 2 seconds on every move, as deep as that allows, and never slips — playing for kings, the back row and the endgame.

Invite

One link per game. Whoever opens it joins as the opponent; the room lives on the site and each plays when they can. Up to 10 open games per device — past that, the game lists yours and you close one with a tap.

Alerts

Joined, moved, captured, offered a draw, 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.

Watch

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

Rematch

Game 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

Win, lose or draw. The scoreboard shows pieces captured by each side and each side's kings.

This game has no leaderboard: between friends you invited, it wouldn't mean much.