Backgammon Premium vs Backgammon Live
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backgammon Premium
Experience the classic board game with a modern twist. Play against friends or strangers worldwide, test your skills against AI, and track your progress with detailed statistics. Enjoy multiple game variations and visually appealing board designs.
- Online multiplayer via Game Center
- Background match-making
- Single-player vs AI (Easy, Medium, Hard)
- Match play with Doubling and Crawford Rule
- Move-assist and unlimited undo
- Extensive game statistics
- Multiple board designs and game variations
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Play the #1 Backgammon on the App Store! Now with the best online Backgammon experience with background match-making and live games via Game Center. Challenge your friends, play against random opponents, compete for leaderboard glory, and earn achievements. - - - - - - ** Recommended by MacWorld as a Top Download for your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad in their November 2010 issue. ** “Backgammon Premium is the crème-de-la-crème ‘gammon’” 9 out of 10 stars Appaddicts.com! ** Nominated for “best dice game of 2009 in the 2009 Best App Ever Awards hosted by bestappever.com! - - - - - - Backgammon is believed to have started in Persia, eventually finding its way to Britain with the Roman conquest in the 1st century and was played by Emperor Claudius who even had his carriage equipped with a playing board! It became such a gambling mania that it was declared illegal under the Republic. Playing on the history of the game, there are 6 visually pleasing, rich board designs; Egyptian, Roman, Medieval, Victorian, Modern and Classic. We also offer, out of the box, two classic game variations: “Old English” and Nackgammon. “Old English” is the most popular game variation in England. Nackgammon is a more challenging variation designed to add more creativity and skill to the game. With integrated Bluetooth Peer-to-Peer support you can play with your friends over Bluetooth with no network required! You can also play against the computer in either Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulties. Features: - Play live against opponents worldwide with Game Center! - Background match-making: search for opponents while you play! - Single Player Games (with Easy, Medium, Hard or, soon, with our brand-new Expert player) - Match support! Play to 3, 5, 9 or 15 points with Doubling. Matches use the Crawford Rule - Move-Assist, highlights available moves - Unlimited “Undo” in single-player games - Extensive game statistics - Designed for iPhone & iPad
Backgammon Live
Play backgammon online against real players with this app. It offers matches, tournaments, and chat features, supporting various internet connections. Learn strategies and master the game.
- Online backgammon matches
- Backgammon tournaments
- In-game chat
- Reconnection on internet loss
- Email games for analysis
- Backgammon rules and strategies
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With Backgammon Live, you can play online backgammon on iPad in HD and you can play on iPhone and iPod Touch as well. Internet connection required. Play internet backgammon games or matches or tournaments, chat, compete, make new friends! If you had an internet disconnection, Backgammon Live Online will reconnect you. You can use either WIFI or non-WIFI connection. Backgammon Live Online will play fine with 3G connection as well. Play single and multi-point backgammon matches, invite players or respond to invitations, email games to yourself for further analysis. Backgammon is not a game of luck as many perceive, but rather, a strategic visual game of war; in many ways it is as difficult to master as chess. Although an element of luck is involved, a skilled backgammon player uses intuition, calculations, creativity and psychology to beat the opponent. The goal in backgamon online is to move all own checkers into the home board and then bear them off (i.e. remove them from the backgammon board). The first backgammon player to remove all of his checkers wins the backgammon game. The Help section of Backgammon Live Online presents rules and strategies for backgammon. You will learn the best ways to play your opening rolls, how to Build a Blockade, how to Establish Anchors, how to Optimize Distribution of Checkers and how to Reduce 'Good' Rolls for the Opponent. The backgammon strategies section describes When to Expose Checkers vs. When to Consolidate Them and how to make a decision When to Hit or not to Hit opponent's backgammon checker. Although backgammon is a very old game, it still continues to fascinate its numerous fans around the globe. It is no wonder that nowadays there are many spellings and acronyms of the game's name. Backgammon can be referred to as: gammon, backgamon and even baggamon, baggammon and bagamon and bagammon! In Greece and Turkey, backgammon is known as tavla. In Iran and Russia, they call backgammon nardi. If backgammon were strictly a game of chance, players would only be expected to win on average just about one half of their games. Yet, just like in chess, stronger backgammon players consistently win games against backgammon newbies. There is a lot more skill required in backgammon than just rolling the dice and mindlessly racing checkers around the board! Backgammon Live Online app won't bedazzle you with currently fashionable 3D graphics. However, you’ll discover that this online backgammon app is a fast-paced and at the same time comfortable, relaxing and familiar parlor game of old. Backgammon Live Online offers an authentic backgammon experience in an online backgammon club where you can chat, play and compete against other real players on the net and fall in love with this board game that’s been played for thousands of years. Do you know the difference between 'gammon' and 'backgammon' in backgammon matches? A gammon is a completed game of backgammon in which the losing player has not borne off any checkers. A gammon is also called a double game because the winner receives twice the value of the doubling cube. A backgammon is a completed game of backgammon in which the losing player has not borne off any checkers and still has one or more checkers on the bar or in the winner's home board. A backgammon is also called a triple game because the winner receives three times the value of the doubling cube.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Backgammon Live at Free against Backgammon Premium's $2.99. Backgammon Live also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). Backgammon Premium's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (6.6K vs 139). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Backgammon Live is free to download; Backgammon Premium costs $2.99 up front. Backgammon Premium sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Backgammon Live sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Backgammon Premium holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backgammon Premium has 6.6K ratings behind it against 139, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of Backgammon Premium's written reviews are positive against 79% of Backgammon Live's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Backgammon Premium ships an update every 2 months, Backgammon Live monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backgammon Premium | Backgammon Live |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (6.6K ratings) — better | 4.0 (139 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.7% of reviews | 79.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6.6K — better | 139 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #6 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | WildCard Classics Inc | BPS Software |
Customer experience
Backgammon Premium
Backgammon Live
User reviews
Backgammon Premium
From 6.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎮 Fun and challenging game
- 📱 Great on-the-go game
- 👍 Well-made and enjoyable
- 🕹️ Classic game with good implementation
- 🧠 Helps improve skills
Room to improve
- 🎲 Computer gets too many favorable dice rolls
- 🤖 Computer plays too aggressively at higher difficulties
- 🔍 Pieces don't align properly on newer devices
- 🔧 Bugs and glitches in recent updates
- 🤔 Lack of customization and settings
Backgammon Live
From 139 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Competitive and fun gameplay
- 🌐 Ability to play with players worldwide
- 🎨 Great graphics and visuals
- ⚖️ Fair and unbiased dice rolls
- 💰 Opportunities to earn prizes and tickets
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional connection issues and crashes
- 💤 Slow game progression and move animations
- 📢 Excessive in-app advertisements
- 🤖 Suspicions of bots or rigged gameplay
- 💸 Concerns about the fairness of paid features
Bugs and requests
Backgammon Premium
Reported bugs
3 issues- Pieces don't line up with board on iPad Pro
- Game freezes and crashes on newer iOS versions
- Opponent can quit mid-game without penalty
Requested features
5 requests- Add pass-and-play mode for local multiplayer
- Improve dice roll randomness and fairness
- Optimize game for latest devices and OS versions
- Provide more board and piece customization options
- Implement an undo/redo feature
Backgammon Live
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login and account issues
- Freezing or black screens
- Inconsistent dice rolls and game outcomes
- Inability to close or exit advertisements
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to play against friends or in private rooms
- More customization options for the game interface
- Improved chat functionality and sportsmanship
- Better matchmaking based on player skill levels
- Offline or single-player mode for practice
In-app purchases
Backgammon Premium
- Christmas Theme$0.99
- Acey Deucey$1.99
Backgammon Live
- Set of 2 $Tickets$2.99
- Set of 7 $Tickets$9.99
- Set of 15 $Tickets$17.99
Questions
Is Backgammon Premium free?
Is Backgammon Live free?
Which has better reviews, Backgammon Premium or Backgammon Live?
Do Backgammon Premium or Backgammon Live have ads?
Which is updated more often, Backgammon Premium or Backgammon Live?
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