True Backgammon HD 4+

True Backgammon

The game favours the computer. It allows it to double the stakes when it is four down in a match of five. This is not the case for the player if the score is the other way. If you decline you loose. This does not make sense and it is outside the rules. Ridiculous.
Wake up Developer, this needs fixing......

Developer Response ,

Believe me, I'm fully awake :) The Crawford Rule says, that only for the first game with a score one below winning the doubling cube is blocked, in subsequent games the doubling cube is allowed again. I'm sure that this will explain the behavior you experienced.

Good Game but....

I like the way it is set out along with the some of the fine tweeks that are available. However, my reasoning for the low star score is that there is an inordinate amount of "strange & coincidental" dice throws. In particular this game seems to have a love affair with double four as it comes up an inordinate amout of times. I have also experienced the same numbers coming up 2 or 3 times in a row including the throws for the computer. I know that in theory, given the random nature of throwing the dice, one could actually throw the same number indefinately but in reality it is not something that I have ever experienced. There is luck & then there is something else. I dont think that the dice are "fixed" as such but I do think the realitry of throwing so many of the same doubles & combinations many times in a row is questionable.

Developer Response ,

From time to time the app shows an information dialog about the various possibilites the app is offering to help users prove that the app is not cheating. A list of all upcoming dice rolls can be displayed by pressing the small dice symbol in the right app menu to convince users who think that the computer rolls dice depending on the game situation. A button inside the dice dialog is available to create new dice at any time for people who think that the computer derive a benefit from the fact that he could know the upcoming dice. And there is an option to switch the app to manual dice roll, so that everyone can prove with one or two matches up to 15 points that the success rate against the computer will not increase. Believe me, as the programmer of this app I do not have the slightest benefit from writing an app which cheats, and which makes customers unhappy. This simply does not make sense. The BGBlitz-Engine from Frank Berger, available in the In-Appstore, is probably the best backgammon engine in the world. No human player will often win against such an AI, those engines are made mostly for training purposes. The feeling that the computer is cheating is even higher when playing against such an engine. The main reason is, that in a Backgammon game that one best move does not exist, but it is all about probabilities to play the game in a way, that your opponent is unable to use most possible dice rolls, while you are able to use nearly every dice roll. And this is something a computer can do much better than most casual gamers. The result is that a human most of the time has a feeling of never get the dice he is hoping for, while the computer always gets dice which fit into the game. Please look up the article “Does Your Bot Cheat?” by Bill Robertie. You can easily find it on Google.

True backgammon!

I’ve been playing backgammon for many, many years and deem myself in the expert category. I’ve sampled a fair few other BG games, discarding most, but apart from one other title, I have to say this is one of the best for graphics and also when challenging the computer. I’m managing to stay ahead on expert mode, so I it’s difficult to find the dice biased as some have said in other reviews. I find it’s mainly down to the moves and level of risk taken. All in all, a great game, done justice!