The Backgammon 4+

Okay, I’ve counted to verify over an extended sample. This app does NOT use honest dice unless someone rewrote the laws of averages. The more difficult settings manipulate the dice rolls to make it harder to win. You will get approximately 6 2/1 rolls for every 6/6 roll. Also instead of a double every 6 rolls like you should get, it will be about 1 every 10 or 12 rolls instead. The app also is ridiculously stupid in late game situations. Accepts stupid doubles and proposes doubles even when it only needs one game to win for instance. Many other idiotic moves as well. Sheesh. Can anyone recommend a backgammon app that is both honest and intelligent in all game scenarios. I haven’t found one yet.

Acorn Investing ads are the worst. The ad finishes playing. I am not interested. There is no X. The only symbol is >> which takes you to the App Store. Even if you go to the App Store you cannot get rid of the ad and return to the game unless you close the application and restart it. Acorn is not the only advertiser that does this. Others have an X that is impossibly small so you end up at the App Store anyway. Again you cannot close the page and return without restarting the app.

I would gladly pay for this app. It’s an excellent game. But you cannot buy this app. You must endure the ads. You must visit the App Store. You must download the advertised ad. Or you must close and reopen the game. This is unethical and unacceptable. I am disgusted with both the AI Factory Limited developers for foisting this on us, and with Apple for permitting such abuse by the developers in the App Store.

This is a good “live” game. It took me awhile to decipher what labels such as 25K, 1D, and 2D meant. They relate to one’s “win” achievements. It’s also nice to be able to look into the room to see who’s playing. The ranking data is a great addition., but the basis for awarding rating points is unclear. It would definitely be more interesting if there were a “chat” option for online play.
My main criticism is the annoying adds,….just wait it out and look for the faint, little “x”s. Also, I am fairly certain that the dice are not always random. I actually played a game where I knew what rolls were coming up because they were an exact repeat of the previous game, lol.