Tavli is portes, plakoto and fevga, the three games of every Greek kafeneio, on a board made like the real thing.
Ready for iPhone Duo
Close iPhone Duo and it is the box: the outside of a real board, inlaid, with a rosette that catches the light as you move the phone. Tap to play shut, and the whole outer display is the board. Open it and the board fills the inner display from edge to edge, with its middle bar on the fold and two brass hinges, the way a real tavli board opens. Hold it upright and the board runs the full length of the screen. A game carries on as you fold and unfold: the checkers, the dice and whose turn it is stay as they were, and each time you close it, the lid comes back.
Three games, played properly
Portes is backgammon as Greece plays it. Plakoto pins instead of hitting. Fevga sends both sides the same way round and lets a single checker hold a point. The rules follow bkgm.com, including the mother checker in plakoto, the prime and first checker rules in fevga, and the larger die when only one can be played. Or play tavli itself: portes, plakoto and fevga in turn, first to 5 or 7. There is a guided game for each, played on the board a step at a time, and cards that show how plakoto and fevga are played.
A board, not a picture
Seven boards in three dimensions: walnut and maple, burr walnut, Carrara marble, black leather in brushed metal, green leather, tan leather and an old kafeneio board. Checkers slide and settle; dice are thrown, and bounce off the walls and each other. On iPad, two fingers can carry two checkers at once.
Someone to play
Lay the phone or iPad flat between two players: what each needs faces them at their own end, and the screen stays awake while you play. Play the computer at Easy, Medium or Strong: portes against the wildbg neural network, plakoto and fevga against search built for each game.
Dice you can check
When the app throws the dice, every match's dice are fixed before the first roll. Settings shows the fingerprint of a secret seed; when the match ends, the seed is revealed with every roll it made, so anyone can confirm the dice never changed. Or throw your own dice on the table and type each roll in.
For everyone
The whole board plays with VoiceOver: every point, the bar and the trays can be read and moved from. Reduce Motion, Increase Contrast and larger text are respected. In English and Greek.
Match play
Single games, matches to 3, 5 or 7, and the doubling cube in portes if you want it. Tavli scoring: two points for a mars, and no triple games.
One price
The free game is portes against the computer at Easy, pass-and-play in all three games, and the Classic board. One purchase opens everything else: plakoto and fevga against the computer at every level, the tavli match and matches, the cube and the other six boards, and every board added after this one. Bought once, and shared with your family.
No subscriptions, no ads, one price. No account, and no tracking.
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