PartyPlay

Backgammon

Race your checkers home and block your rival.

Players
1–2 players
Time
15–40 min
Ages
8+
Where
Same room or online
You need
Nothing but this page

How to play Backgammon

  1. 1Each player has 15 checkers moving in opposite directions around the 24 points, heading for their own home board.
  2. 2Roll two dice and move a checker by each number. Doubles give you four moves. You must use as many of your dice as you can.
  3. 3You can land on any point unless your opponent has two or more checkers there.
  4. 4Land on a lone enemy checker to hit it and send it to the bar. It must re-enter in your home board before they can move anything else.
  5. 5Once all your checkers are home, bear them off with your rolls. The first player to bear off all 15 wins.

Race your checkers home and off the board

Move by the dice, hit lone enemy checkers and build blocks to trap them. First to bear off all 15 wins.

Opponent

Variations

  • Doubling cube: real-life players often add a cube to raise the stakes of a game in points.

Tips

  • Avoid leaving lone checkers within six points of an enemy checker, and build a run of connected points to trap your rival.

Great for

Play next