Backgammon NJ HD

Rigged to the gills. Do not purchase!

I have played thousands of games of backgammon on this app. There’s no advertising (good) and for the most part, the games are challenging and fun. The bad is that the app gives itself perfect rolls repeatedly, so expect to lose frequently. There’s no element of luck for the computer, but I suppose this is one way to get people to keep playing—if you won all the time, what would be the point? I plan to keep the app, which is why I gave it 3 stars. But if you are a highly competitive person (I am not), you might find this app frustrating.

Been playing this for a few months and the computer die rolls are very frustrating. It has to be the only way the programmer has figured out how to manipulate the difficulty. I have tried all of the suggestions the developer has given to keep the die rolls fair but I have kept a log and the computer will always roll exactly the die it needs to hit your piece and will get more doubles when playing from behind. The user interface is very nice which makes this review very hard to write but the game is frustrating to play when the computer obviously has an unfair advantage.

Been playing this game for over a decade. Used to play more often, but tired of how rigged the dice are. Barely play anymore because game is as big a joke as it ever was.

This is a great game. The developer deserves recognition for his amazing accomplishment. However, the dice rolls are not random. When one is playing the computer, one gets better rolls if they play by the computer’s rules. Otherwise one loses. Without question. The worst part is that, that feature spills into online game play. Players complain constantly about it and all the developer will say is that if you use His way to test the dice rolls, you will find the dice are random. I disagree. Over and over, one gets nonsensical rolls. I just got 3 double 4s in a row. Then not a single 4 in all the rolls after that for the game. That happens with other numbers. I’ve been playing for 8 or nine years and that’s a regular occurrence. What are the odds of rolling doubles three times in a row that are the same? It’s a regular feature in this game. Other than obvious flaws like that, I do believe Jimmy has created an incredible game that is much enjoyed by tens of thousands worldwide. He deserves credit for that. But he needs to re-examine his allegedly random dice roll database. And look into why the player is rewarded with better dice rolls for the right computer blessed moves while playing online. That should only be happening when one is learning from the computer. And the player should be able to turn that ridiculous feature off.

I know that this has been talked over a million times and I am not an expert by any stretch, but I am playing the easy level and I might win one in three matches. I don’t really care if they tell me the dice are pre rolled if when I am blocked out consistently for five or six rolls whereas the computer gets in on the first or possibly second try. I have never yet seen any different. It simply can’t be considered “fair”. It is unfun. It comes down to that. It’s not fun to get consistently bad rolls while watching your opponent get consistently good rolls in every match. Rethink your AI. I’m deleting this game. UPDATE: I reconsidered deleting and tried the “rolling by hand” route, just to see if there was a difference in the amazingly superior AI opponent. I was amazed, not at the strategy, but how quickly this AI opponent went from being a fierce panther to a docile kitten when it didn’t get its demoralizing doubles and perfect rolls. Very interesting. I’d like to add that there is one thing I am superior at in this game: I don’t cheat.

Where did my doubling cube go?

… I know the devs swear the AI doesn’t cheat and that the dice are all “pre-rolled” for each game. But I have played thousands of games and hundreds of matches and all I can say is that it certainly *feels* like the AI cheats. I have won ~50% of the games but only ~37% of the matches. I cannot tell you how many times the AI gets what it needs from the bar on the first or second roll, whereas I am routinely rolling 5-10 times before getting out, even when there are 2-4 free spaces. It is truly infuriating and forces some unrealistic adjustments that I try not to take with me to IRL games with real people. Still, the game is well designed and has made me much better, so thanks for that, even if I rage quit probably every single time I play for more than 15 minutes. But I keep coming back, so …

I am play it several times each day

Great app!