This Is the Police vs Backgammon Mastermind
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
This Is the Police
Step into the shoes of Police Chief Jack Boyd and navigate a city rife with corruption and crime. Manage your staff, respond to emergencies, and investigate criminal gangs. Your decisions will shape the story and determine if you reach retirement with a fortune or face a grim fate.
- Manage police staff
- Respond to emergencies
- Investigate crimes
- Make story-altering decisions
- Negotiate with crime bosses
- Solve investigations
- Deal with city powers
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Dive into a deep story of corruption, crime and intrigue. Take the role of gritty Police Chief Jack Boyd, and come face to face with the ugly underbelly of Freeburg, a city spiraling the drain. Will Jack reach his retirement with a nice stack of bills, or will he end up broken ... or worse? Manage your staff, respond to emergencies, and investigate crimes in a city on the brink of chaos. The mafia underworld maneuvers behind the scenes, sinking their claws ever deeper into the city, even as the mayor is ready to exploit every situation to his political advantage. Choose your approach to each situation as it unfolds. Sometimes you’ll be responding to a developing crisis at a crime scene, or negotiating with Freeburg’s crime bosses. Sometimes you’ll find yourself dodging questions in the press room, or even the occasional cross-examination in the witness box. Can you keep this pressure cooker from exploding, at least for long enough to stash away a nice retirement nest egg? - Your mission is clear: make $500,000 in 180 days before Jack Boyd reaches retirement. How? That’s up to you! - Decisions, decisions! This Is the Police is all about a dark story and how you react to it. Whatever you decide, your choices will influence the game – and the fate of Jack Boyd. - The Good, the Bad, and... the Ugly? The Chief of Freeburg's Police Department deals with all kind of people. It is up to you to find the bad guys and decide how to deal with them. - Carry out your duties. As head of Freeburg PD, Jack deals with all sorts of challenges every day: responding to emergencies, managing his officers, defending the department against City Hall and a corrupt mayor, and much more. - Solve Investigations and gather evidence against the criminal gangs of Freeburg. - Deal with the competing powers of the city. Everyone offers you favors, and each one comes at a price. Rich and fully voiced story: Jack Boyd is portrayed by Jon St. John, the voice of Duke Nukem.
Backgammon Mastermind
Master the classic board game with interactive lessons and AI opponents. Learn rules, practice moves, and play against friends offline. Enjoy a full backgammon experience without ads or accounts.
- Interactive lessons
- Heuristic AI opponent
- Local 2-player mode
- Drag and tap controls
- Legal move highlighting
- Offline play
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Backgammon Mastermind is a polished take on the classic strategy board game — with an interactive Learn to Play path that teaches real rules on a live board. New to backgammon? Work through five short guided lessons covering the board, movement, hitting, the bar, and bearing off. Pass a quick check, then play your first real game. Already know the game? Jump straight into a match against the computer or share the board with a friend in pass-and-play mode. Roll dice, move your checkers, hit blots, and bear off all fifteen to win. Features: • Learn to Play — interactive lessons on a real board • Play against the computer • Local 2-player pass-and-play • Drag or tap to move; legal destinations highlighted • Direction guide and beginner-friendly preferences • Available in 17 languages • No account and no ads — gameplay runs on your device One purchase. Play offline after download.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Backgammon Mastermind at 5.0 against This Is the Police's 4.3. Backgammon Mastermind also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 37 months) and price ($4.99 vs $8.99). This Is the Police's advantage is ratings volume (72 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
This Is the Police costs $8.99 and Backgammon Mastermind $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Backgammon Mastermind holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: This Is the Police has 72 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
This Is the Police ships an update every 37 months, Backgammon Mastermind every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | This Is the Police | Backgammon Mastermind |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (72 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 72 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 37 months | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2.0 GB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | THQ Nordic Mobile GmbH | Zachary Ebenfeld |
Customer experience
This Is the Police
Backgammon Mastermind
Bugs and requests
This Is the Police
Reported bugs
15 issues- Game crashes after learning to hire/fire employees
- No sound in the game
- Text is cut off by the notch on iPhones
- Game not saving progress
- Bugged investigation in sandbox mode causing issues
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- Game crashes upon entry
- Download issues reported by multiple users
- Text is too small and unreadable on mobile
- Buttons are too small and close together
- Dialogue is cut off by the notch
- Game not optimized for phones with notches
- Unreadable text on small screens
- Game loses saves
- Loading bar stuck
- Game crashes after learning to hire and fire
Requested features
9 requests- Add cloud save functionality
- Improve UI optimization for mobile devices, especially with notches
- Increase text size or add zoom functionality
- Add a task journal or objective tracker
- Add more variety to investigations
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- Add poker to the sandbox mode
- Improve sandbox mode starting days
- Add Russian language for dialogues
- Add cloud synchronization between iPhone and iPad
Backgammon Mastermind
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
This Is the Police
No in-app purchases
Backgammon Mastermind
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is This Is the Police free?
Is Backgammon Mastermind free?
Which has better reviews, This Is the Police or Backgammon Mastermind?
Do This Is the Police or Backgammon Mastermind have ads?
Which is updated more often, This Is the Police or Backgammon Mastermind?
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