Backgammon Reserve vs Tavli
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backgammon Reserve
A premium backgammon experience focused on serious players. Enjoy ranked online matches with Elo ratings, daily play options, and in-depth post-game analysis. Challenge a sophisticated AI opponent and track your global and friends' standings.
- Ranked online matches with Elo rating
- Daily play with up to 24 hours per move
- Match play to 3, 5, or 7 points
- Advanced AI opponent 'Sir Reginald'
- Detailed post-game analysis and review
- Global and friends standings
- Secure, unbiased dice rolls
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Backgammon Reserve is backgammon the way serious players want it. Most backgammon apps bury the game under casino mechanics: coin balances, spin wheels, loud effects. This is the opposite. A quiet, premium table for people who already love the game and want a trustworthy place to play it. PLAY RANKED ONLINE Match against real players on a live Elo rating. Server-generated dice, a match clock, and full rules enforcement. The doubling cube, gammons, and backgammons all count. Your rating, global rank, and percentile are real, earned, and on display. PLAY DAILY Backgammon on your schedule. Up to 24 hours per move and up to twenty games at once, rated in the same pool as live play with the cube in full effect. A notification tells you the moment it is your move, and the app icon counts the games waiting on you. MATCHES TO 3, 5 OR 7 Play a proper match, not just a game. First to the target score, Crawford rule included, with the cube live throughout. Agree a format with a friend, or pick one against the bot and in Pass and Play. TAKE ON SIR REGINALD One opponent. The whole community trying to beat him. Sir Reginald plays matches to 3, 5 or 7 and never a single game. He is not a difficulty setting and nothing against him touches your rating: his ladder is its own contest, ranked two ways, most wins and best average performance rating. His judgement comes from a neural network that taught itself backgammon over 750,000 games against itself, with no strategy written by hand. A bot built from written rules can only be as good as whoever wrote them. One that learns from results is free to find plays nobody thought to teach it. SEE WHERE YOU WENT WRONG Every match against Sir Reginald ends with a full review. A rating for how you played, your costliest decision shown on the board with the better move beside it, and a chart of how your chance of winning moved with every decision. It separates the dice from the play, so you can tell being outplayed from being unlucky. STANDINGS See exactly where you stand. The global board ranks the strongest players by rating, and your own row stays with you whether you are in the top 25 or climbing toward it, with the exact gap to the player above. A separate friends board ranks the people you actually know. Every rated game moves you, live or daily, and one rated game puts you on it. FAIR DICE Dice come from a cryptographically secure random source with bias rejection. No streaks engineered to keep you playing, no rolls tilted toward anyone. Online, the server rolls, so neither player's device can influence them. Against Sir Reginald you need not take it on faith: his page charts every die face rolled against the mathematics. SHARPEN YOUR GAME AGAINST THE BOTS Four tiers, from Beginner to Expert, all driven by the same self-taught network. Each is defined by how much it may give away per decision, so a weaker bot plays weaker moves rather than random ones. Bot games never touch your rating. PASS AND PLAY Hand the phone across the table. A clean two-seat mode for playing in person, at a single game or a full match. CHALLENGE YOUR FRIENDS Add friends, send a direct challenge, and settle it in a rated match. Play live with a clock, or start a daily game and take it slow. Agree the format, from a single game to a match to 7. A RECORD OF EVERY GAME Full match history, win and loss stats, streaks, recent form, and an interactive rating chart tracking every rated game you have played. DESIGNED LIKE A MEMBERS LOUNGE Walnut and brass, ivory checkers, understated motion. No neon, no confetti, no noise. WHAT YOU WON'T FIND • No coins, chips, or gambling mechanics • No ads • No pay-to-win mechanics. Nothing for sale. • No engineered dice Full backgammon rules are enforced: bar entry, blot hitting, forced maximum-pip plays, exact and overshoot bear-off, and the doubling cube with proper gammon and backgammon scoring.
Tavli
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Some things never get old. Tavli brings the warmth of a backgammon table to your iPhone or iPad, with five ways to play. PRACTICE AT YOUR PACE Choose from three computer opponents, from a casual game to a thoughtful challenge. Play anywhere, even with no internet. SHARE A TABLE Two players, one device. Pass the board between turns and enjoy a game together. PLAY CLOSE TO HOME Find a friend on the same Wi-Fi network, or connect nearby through Bluetooth. No internet is needed. A matching code confirms your connection. MEET ACROSS THE DISTANCE Create a private table and share its code, or find an opponent online. Your game saves after each move so you can reconnect. STAY IN THE GAME Optional notifications let you know when an opponent is ready or your online table needs a move while you are away. Manage them in Settings. THE GAME YOU KNOW Full backgammon rules, legal-move guidance, doubling cube, gammon and backgammon scoring, and matches to 1, 3, 5 or 7 points. New to the game? A clear guide gets you started. MADE FOR YOUR TABLE A tactile board that adapts to portrait and landscape. Tap a checker to play, tap the dice to reverse their order, or drag a checker yourself. Animated dice, gentle haptics, and local save and resume. Free to play, with occasional ads after completed matches. No coins, gambling or in-app purchases. Nearby games and active turns stay uninterrupted. Take your time. It’s your turn.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Backgammon Reserve at none against Tavli's shown. On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Backgammon Reserve ships an update every 5 days, Tavli weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backgammon Reserve | Tavli |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (18 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 18 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Benjamin Taylor | Baris Ceviz |
In-app purchases
Backgammon Reserve
No in-app purchases
Tavli
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Backgammon Reserve free?
Is Tavli free?
Do Backgammon Reserve or Tavli have ads?
Which is updated more often, Backgammon Reserve or Tavli?
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