Play backgammon against the computer ▶ Play now — runs natively, no emulator
Guide updated October 2026 · Runs via WebAssembly (native port)
Backgammon is a race with collisions. You and the computer each have fifteen checkers moving in opposite directions around the board; you move yours from the 24-point down to your home board (points 1–6) and bear them off. Land on a point held by a single enemy checker and you send it to the bar, where it must start again. First to bear off all fifteen wins. Press Roll, then tap a checker and a highlighted point for each die.
Controls — what does what
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Roll the dice | — | Roll |
| Move a checker | — | Click the checker, then a highlighted point |
| Bear off | — | Click a checker, then the tray |
FREE This is the complete game, free. Written from scratch for ExeBrowser — original code, nothing to unlock, free to play.
Original code written for ExeBrowser — see NOTICE.md.
Rules
- Each die is a separate move: a 5 and a 3 move one checker eight points or two checkers five and three. Doubles are played four times.
- You may not land on a point held by two or more enemy checkers.
- A checker on the bar must re-enter in the opponent's home board before anything else moves.
- You must use both dice if any legal sequence allows it; if only one can be used, it must be the larger when either would do. The board only offers moves that obey this.
- Once all fifteen checkers are home you bear off, using a die equal to a checker's point, or a higher die on your highest checker.
Scoring
A win is worth one point. If the loser hasn't borne off a single checker, it's a gammon and counts two; if the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, it's a backgammon and counts three. The score carries over from game to game. There is no doubling cube in this version.
Strategy
Make points rather than leaving single checkers (blots) where they can be hit — especially your 5-point and the bar point (7). A row of consecutive made points, a prime, can trap enemy checkers behind it. When you're well ahead in the race, stop fighting and run home. The pip counts above the board show how far each side has to go.
Frequently asked questions
Is the doubling cube included?
Not yet. Games are scored as single wins, gammons and backgammons, with the score kept across games.
Does the computer cheat with the dice?
No. Both sides' dice come from the browser's random number generator, and the computer sees nothing you don't.
How do I bear off?
Once all fifteen of your checkers are on points 1–6, tap a checker and then the tray on the right edge of the board.
More you can play in your browser
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Want a game like this on your own site?
Backgammon isn't ours to give away — we host it, we didn't write it. But eleven of the games here we did write from scratch, and those are free for anyone to put on their own page: one line of HTML, no account, no permission, no attribution beyond a credit line.