Comparison

Obsession vs Backgammon HD Play Live Online

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Obsession

A two-player board game where players race to move their ten rings into a "Safety Zone" before their opponent. Players roll dice to determine moves, strategically advancing their own rings or hindering their opponent's progress.

Highlights
  • Two-player competitive gameplay
  • Dice-based movement mechanics
  • Strategic ring advancement
  • Opponent ring hindrance
  • iPad-exclusive interface
Features
Read full description

Obsession is a board game for two players in which one player wins by moving his ten rings along ten slots. He must get all ten rings into the "Safety Zone" before his opponent. Each player rolls a pair of dice, and can move a number of rings given by the sum of the two dice. He choose either to move their own rings up, or their opponent's rings down. The two players take place on the opposite sides of the iPad screen. In the middle of the screen a board is shown with two symmetrical zones, one for each player. In each zone there is a set of 10 long oval slots, and a second set of 10 small circular slots. The last set is the Safety Zone. On each zone, a set of rings is also shown: the red ones are owned by player 1, and the white ones by player 2. All the rings are initially in the start position. When the turn of a player comes, he can see a red and white button on his side of the screen, and he should touch it. Two dice start rolling at this point. When they stop, the number of available moves is given by the sum of the two dice. A line of white dots is also shown on the player's side, indicating the number of available moves. The player can now start touching rings to move them. Touching one of his rings, he will move it from the start to the advanced position, or from the advanced position to his Safety Zone. Touching one of the adversary's rings in the advanced position, he will move it back to the base position. Normally a player can only move a given ring once at each turn. But, in order to prevent stalling situations, when all the possible move are exhausted and the player has more available moves, then he will be allowed to move again a ring already moved in the same turn. Rings on the Safety Zone cannot be moved back. At each move, the number of residual available moves is decreased. The line of white dots will be updated consequently. When all the available moves are done, the turn passes to the other player. The game ends when one player puts all of his rings in the Safety Zone.

About

Backgammon HD Play Live Online

Engage in live multiplayer backgammon matches against friends or players worldwide. Learn the rules, hone your strategy, and compete in tournaments to climb the leaderboards. Unlock unique boards and enjoy unlimited free gameplay.

Highlights
  • Live multiplayer matches
  • Play with friends or random opponents
  • Online tournaments
  • Leaderboard progression
  • Unlockable unique boards
  • Learn rules and improve strategy
  • Certified dice
Read full description

The best FREE multiplayer Backgammon game. Join a game instantly or play with friends now! Play live backgammon with friends and players around the world with PlayGem Backgammon for iOS. Download the FREE app from iTunes and enjoy the best version of this game on the Internet. PlayGem Backgammon offers FREE play with people you know, your Facebook friends, or millions of players worldwide. This leading social strategy game attracts hundreds of thousands of people who seek to challenge themselves each day! We’ve taken one of the oldest board games and made it even more fun! Download the app today to learn the rules of backgammon, perfect your strategy, and have a great time with a super cool mobile app for iPhone and iPad. Online Challenges and Tournaments Backgammon is a game of skill and luck. It’s a challenge you can now engage in with millions of players from all over the world, so set up PlayGem Backgammon on your iOS cell phone or mobile device and start competing! Take part in matches and tournaments and let our unique matching system quickly find you another player to go up against. Or, challenge one of your real-life or Facebook friends! Fun with Worthy Opponents Have a good time playing online matches and tournaments while improving your strategy against worthy opponents. The app finds you an international player to challenge, so you both can master the rules and become increasingly better. Climb the Leader Board Gain experience (XP), level up, unlock achievements, and climb the Leaders Board to get to international backgammon fame! Invite your friends to join in the excitement, too, and find out who truly is the best player. Beautiful and Unique Boards As you’re playing PlayGem Backgammon, you can work to unlock seven beautiful and exotic boards. Each has its own special music and themes! Features Awesome additional features that you’ll find in PlayGem Backgammon include: • Live contests that are quick, simple, and smooth • Multi-platform challenges across Facebook and iOS cell phones and mobile devices • 100 percent certified dice • Best customer support • Free and unlimited gameplay! By Any Name, It’s Still The Same Players from around the world love backgammon, but they sometimes call it by different names. It doesn’t matter if you refer to it as Tavla, Dado, Tavli, Tapa, Trictrac, Tric Trac, Tabula, Acey Deucey, Narde, Shesh Besh, Nackgammon, Plakoto, Gul Bara, Takhteh, or Moultezim—they all mean the same thing, and they refer to one of the best games on the planet! Start playing with your friends or enjoy a fun match with a new international friend. If you don’t know how the rules, it’s okay! You’ll be able to learn quickly and take part in cool online challenges. Grab your dice and board, and download PlayGem Backgammon today! Even if you misspelled it and wrote back gammon, nackgammon, nack gamon, backgamon, bacgamon, bakgamon, ששבש,שש בש or anything else – we don’t mind misspellers, you’re invited to an exciting free online backgammon game.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Backgammon HD Play Live Online at Free against Obsession's $0.99. Backgammon HD Play Live Online also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 38 months). Obsession's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 15). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Backgammon HD Play Live Online is free to download; Obsession costs $0.99 up front. Backgammon HD Play Live Online sells 14 one-off in-app purchases. Obsession asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Backgammon HD Play Live Online holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Backgammon HD Play Live Online has 1.2K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Obsession ships an update every 38 months, Backgammon HD Play Live Online every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 24, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Obsession versus Backgammon HD Play Live Online: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterObsessionBackgammon HD Play Live Online
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)4.3 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews—64.1% of reviews
Number of ratings11.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 38 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS12.48.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB141 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperLuigi FontiPlaygem Technologies Ltd

Customer experience

Obsession

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Backgammon HD Play Live Online

All ratings1,237 ratings
Positive83.0%
Neutral8.7%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews387 reviews
Positive64.1%
Neutral10.1%
Negative25.8%

Bugs and requests

Obsession

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Backgammon HD Play Live Online

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game freezing and causing loss of progress
  • Chips disappearing or not being awarded properly
  • Inability to log in or access account
  • Unresponsive controls and movement issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Chat function to communicate with opponents
  • Ability to play with friends
  • Ranking system based on skill, not just chip count
  • More board design options

In-app purchases

None

Obsession

No in-app purchases

14 purchases

Backgammon HD Play Live Online

One-time14
  • 50,000 backgammon chips$0.99
  • 100,000 backgammon chips$1.99
  • 300,000 backgammon chips$4.99
Show 11 more
  • 1,500,000 backgammon chips$9.99
  • 750,000 backgammon chips$9.99
  • 2,500,000 backgammon chips$19.99
  • 2,400,000 backgammon chips$24.99
  • 3,600,000 backgammon chips$24.99
  • 4,000,000 backgammon chips$29.99
  • 5,000,000 backgammon chips$39.99
  • 15,000,000 backgammon chips$49.99
  • 12,000,000 backgammon chips$79.99
  • 15,000,000 backgammon chips2 variants$99.99
  • 24,375,000 backgammon chips$99.99

Questions

Is Obsession free?
Obsession costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backgammon HD Play Live Online free?
Backgammon HD Play Live Online is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Obsession or Backgammon HD Play Live Online?
Backgammon HD Play Live Online is rated higher. Obsession averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Backgammon HD Play Live Online averages 4.3 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Obsession or Backgammon HD Play Live Online have ads?
Neither Obsession nor Backgammon HD Play Live Online shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Obsession or Backgammon HD Play Live Online?
Obsession ships an update every 38 months, and Backgammon HD Play Live Online every 4 weeks. Most recently, Obsession was updated on June 24, 2026 and Backgammon HD Play Live Online on October 24, 2026.

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