Backgammon by George vs Backgammon Machine
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backgammon by George
Experience the classic board game on your iPhone or iPad. Play against an AI with adjustable difficulty, get hints, undo moves, and customize your game with various settings. Perfect for both casual players and those looking to hone their skills.
- Play against AI
- Four difficulty levels
- Replay opponent's move
- Get AI hints
- Undo moves
- Shake or tap to roll dice
- Auto-complete moves
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Master the ultimate game of strategy with the neural-network-powered Backgammon app. Play against the AI at four levels of difficulty. REPLAY the most recent opponent's move. Get a HINT from AI to help you with your next move, or UNDO your most recent move. ROLL your dice with a shake, or with a single tap. AUTO COMPLETE a move with a single tap on your stone. Use the SETTINGS menu to select board style, enable or disable sounds, control speed of the stone animations, and more. Use the HELP screens to learn about the game. A quote from http://www.65cubes.com/windows-shopping-backgammon.html: "Backgammon, by George is one of those which gambling players consider as an ancient backgammon program... But do not laugh at it. Some of the most successful gambling players confess that they have started humbly by practicing backgammon with Backgammon by George." Art by Miguel. Programming by George!
Backgammon Machine
Engage in a challenging game of backgammon against a sophisticated AI opponent powered by neural network technology. Experience fair dice rolls and test your skills at two distinct difficulty levels.
- Neural network AI opponent
- Two skill levels
- Fair dice rolls
- CoreML technology
- Challenging gameplay
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The only free neural network trained backgammon AI on iOS! Backgammon Machine leverages the power of Apple's brand new CoreML machine learning technology to create a fast and challenging opponent at two different skill levels. My dad complained that his backgammon app cheated at higher difficulties, and he was right! Backgammon Machine's dice are 100% fair (though it will feel like cheating sometimes when you're getting hammered) Can you beat The Machine?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Backgammon Machine at 4.1 against Backgammon by George's 2.9. Backgammon Machine also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (106 vs 13). Backgammon by George's advantage is review sentiment (56% vs 40%). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. Backgammon by George sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Backgammon Machine asks for nothing beyond the download.
Backgammon Machine holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backgammon Machine has 106 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Backgammon by George's written reviews are positive against 40% of Backgammon Machine's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Backgammon by George ships an update fortnightly, Backgammon Machine every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backgammon by George | Backgammon Machine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.9 (13 ratings) | 4.1 (106 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.4% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13 | 106 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Graphics Software Labs | Tyler Walker |
Customer experience
Backgammon by George
Backgammon Machine
Bugs and requests
Backgammon by George
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Backgammon Machine
Reported bugs
6 issues- 🐛 Game blocks one die wrongly when playing in from bar
- 🐛 Screen randomly gets washed out
- 🐛 App counts wins for the machine when human wins
- 🐛 Glitch where screen grays out
- 🐛 Critical bug in playing from the bar
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- 🐛 Game doesn't work, pieces outside perimeter
Requested features
9 requests- Dark mode option
- More difficulty options
- Different AI play styles (defensive, aggressive)
- Full screen landscape mode
- Doubling cube feature
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- Ability to create matches
- Night mode
- Use entire screen
- Add color options
In-app purchases
Backgammon by George
- Ad-Free HARDEST level unlock$2.99
Backgammon Machine
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Backgammon by George free?
Is Backgammon Machine free?
Which has better reviews, Backgammon by George or Backgammon Machine?
Do Backgammon by George or Backgammon Machine have ads?
Which is updated more often, Backgammon by George or Backgammon Machine?
Other comparisons
