Review

Quick facts

• AI strengh: superhuman (PR 1.1)
• multiplayer: yes
• tutor / analysis: yes, excellent
• price: $4 to $15
• App store link

Summary: This is my favorite backgammon app of them all. Beautifully designed with a superhumanly strong AI and a state of the art tutor. Every match against it is a pleasure to play.

Not as old as the real pioneers of computer backgammon, but old enough, there since 2002, and still being developed and performing on top level: the strong backgammon program BGBlitz. For iOS, there are two apps utilizing the BGBlitz engine, and while I wasn’t entirely convinced of Backgammon Gold, the second app, True Backgammon HD (TBHD), shines on iOS, and is a worthy contender for the Backgammon crown on Apple’s platform.

Visually, and acoustically, TBHD is my most favorite Backgammon for iOS. I cannot overstate how well this app reflects playing on a real board. Some board themes cost €1 in-app, but that’s worth it. By default there’s a nice wooden board and a just as nice metal board above for you to choose. And while the clicking and dice-rolling sounds of nearly every other backgammon sound cheap and cheesy, the ones of TBHD are so enjoyable that I’m actually playing most games with sound on.

The drawback of this clean, simple, beautiful design is that actually playing is a bit annoying. Want to know who leads in the race? Tap on menu to have the board scroll sidewards and reveal this info. Want to try out different moves (which is absolutely normal in Backgammon, even on professional level)? Tap the menu, wait for the board to scroll to the side, tap undo. You can also just move the pieces back to their previous location, like on a normal board, though.  

Another minor annoyance is the way the game supposedly beautifully scrolls up a bit when offering a double:

Doubling is a critical, complicated part of Backgammon that requires full concentration. Frankly, it’s beyond me why I can’t see the full board but only see the top half of the upper row. This might be considered a minor issue, but it’s annoying (particularly as my cube handling is vastly inferior to my dice handling, so I really need to concentrate there).

So much for complaining about minor usability issues; again, this is a wonderful app. Let me show you why.

Moving the checkers on a tablet is a wonderful matter. You grab a checker and move it to its destination with a well-done drag-and-drop implementation. You can even drag-and-drop back and forth when trying out different moves, like on a real board, and multi-drag several checkers at the same time. By now, TGBG supports different ways to move, on devices of all sizes. I like drag&drop most because it feels nearly like a real board.

If you purchase the BGBlitz tutor for about €3 (in-app), and you should, because an AI that destroys you without telling you where you’re failing is a frustrating experience, then TGHD will give you the usual insights into your errors and blunders. This is nicely done, shows everything you need, like the other top-notch mobile AIs.

The list tells you the best move + all the equities and probabilities that backgammon fans need to understand the evaluation (these numbers don’t tell you anything? Maybe you want to head over to my “tutortorial” that explains how to work with app tutors). Also the game shows you visually on the board what the best move would have been. Same for doubling. And with BGBlitz being fairly strong, these hints can help a lot to tune your mental pattern matching abilities.

As we’re at it: how strong is the app, exactly? I analyzed quite a few games with XG2 on the PC (roller++); result is that it plays strong enough to justify the ”superhuman” label. It performs at a PR rating of about 1.1. A bit better than BG NJ, slightly inferior to XG Mobile. But honestly: you’ll never notice. BGBlitz in this app makes no errors that are worth mentioning, and it will teach you to avoid your errors just as well as XG Mobile.

Things are looking differently if you don’t invest the money for the BGBlitz in-app purchase. XG rates me as an “advanced” player with a PR of about 11, and I’m soundly beating TBHD’s free built-in AI on its hardest level. For newbies the AI is sufficient but don’t expect to learn anything, improve your backgammon, or maybe get your mind blown by a state-of-the art AI destroying you over and over and showing you that luck plays a much lower role in Backgammon than you thought. Please, get the BGBlitz in-app purchase. It makes all the difference.

A feature worth mentioning is the statistics screen.

For the sake of completeness: the app offers two-player “share a device” gaming and network gaming. I havent’ tried out both. The app comes with pretty much all rules, but I haven’t found Jacoby/Beaver. You can play money games or tournaments of every normal tournament length.

I’ve got something like 15 backgammon apps installed on my devices, but when I want a nice bot match, I always go for BGHD. It’s just such a pleasure to interact with the board.

TBHD costs somewhere between €4 and €15 depending on your in-app spending habits. You need at least the basic game (€3.50) and the BGBlitz AI features (€6).

Disclaimer: after my first review in which I critizised a couple of issues (no drag and drop on phones, no statistics, …) the developer contacted me. We had a lot of good interaction, and I have the feeling that I could influence the app to be exactly my “dream backgammon app”. This might skew my very positive review, although I doubt that I’m being unfair to the other apps. True Backgammon HD is incredible, and an open-minded developer is not that common. But you should know.