Comparison

Backgammon Zone vs Backgammon Online with Friends

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

Head to head
About

Backgammon Zone

Play backgammon against friends, AI, or other players worldwide. Enjoy a faithful adaptation of the classic board game with customizable boards and full rule support. Offers offline play and quick matchmaking.

Highlights
  • Quick online matchmaking
  • Play against AI with multiple difficulty levels
  • Invite friends to play via link or code
  • Full official backgammon rules support
  • Offline play with auto-save
  • Customizable board themes
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Backgammon Zone is a fast, faithful backgammon game. Play a strong computer opponent anywhere, even with no connection at all, or send a friend a link and play live. PLAY AGAINST THE COMPUTER • Three levels: Normal, Strong and Expert — Expert looks a full roll further ahead • Works completely offline • Auto-save: close the app and pick up exactly where you left off • Best move: ask the engine for its play when a position is hard • Undo your last move PLAY WITH A FRIEND • Tap "Play with a friend" and share the invite link or the six-character room code • Your friend can join from the app or from any web browser • Rejoin a match in progress if the connection drops REAL RULES, REAL MATCHES • Full official rules: hitting, the bar, bearing off, gammons and backgammons • Doubling cube with the Crawford rule • Matches to 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11 points MADE TO PLAY WITH • Dice, checkers and hits you can hear and feel • Six boards: classic, walnut, midnight, denim, green felt and a high-contrast one • Your record kept on your device: games, matches and your best winning run 14 LANGUAGES English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew and Russian. FREE AND AD-SUPPORTED Backgammon Zone is free to download and play. It shows a short ad when you move on to the next game or start a new match — never in the middle of a turn — and you can watch an optional ad for extra hints or undos. A one-time "Remove ads" purchase turns every ad off for good, and you can review your ad privacy choices at any time from the settings menu. Roll the dice. Move smart. Win the match. Questions or ideas? Visit backgammonzone.net/contact

About

Backgammon Online with Friends

Features
Read full description

Backgammon against a real person — and you can hear them. At a table joined by an invite code you see their face too. The dice are fair: the game seed is on the table and every roll can be recomputed. No coins, no ads, no sign-up. VOICE AND FACE AT THE TABLE At an online table you can talk. The microphone is asked for once, when you sit down; say no and nothing else changes — the game simply goes on in silence. Video is switched on with a button and only at a table joined by an invite code, that is, between people who know each other; the camera is off by default. You can mute your opponent, report them, and never be matched with them again. GLASS DICE Every roll is computed from the game seed (HMAC-SHA256). The seed is shown on the table; “Verify” recomputes every die. Face, doubles and luck statistics for you and your opponent. No rigged dice, ever. BACKGAMMON AND THREE MORE RULE SETS • Backgammon: hitting, the bar, the doubling cube, the Crawford rule, gammon and backgammon. • Long nardy: the head, the 6-6/4-4/3-3 first-move exception, the six-block rule, mars and koks. • Tavla and Shesh Besh presets. Matches to 3, 5 and 7 points. A CHAMPION-LEVEL COACH Hints show the best play; the post-game review shows where points were lost. In backgammon the evaluation comes from a neural net stronger than GNU Backgammon, on your phone, offline. HONEST OPPONENTS Six bot characters from novice to master, always labelled. No fake “humans”. Two players on one phone. ONLINE WITH LIVE PLAYERS Find an opponent by rating or play a friend with a table code. Online dice come from the arbiter: the seed hash is shown to both before the first roll, and after the match the seed is revealed so every roll can be recomputed. Elo rating and a top-100 table — only for matches against real people. NO COINS, NO ADS Nothing you can buy makes you stronger. The Store screen holds Pro, three boards sold separately, and tips. Pro unlocks board themes, unlimited hints and the full luck history. Tips (“Support the yard”) unlock nothing — they are just a thank-you. The whole game is free. ONE HAND Portrait board, tap a checker and tap a point, two-dice jumps in one tap, auto-move when there is no choice. Works offline. No sign-up. Interface in 19 languages.

Screenshots

Backgammon Zone4 screens
Backgammon Online with Friends4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Backgammon Zone at none against Backgammon Online with Friends's 7. Backgammon Zone also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). Backgammon Online with Friends's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price 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

Both are free to download. Backgammon Online with Friends sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Backgammon Zone asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Backgammon Zone ships an update every 2 days, Backgammon Online with Friends every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Backgammon Zone versus Backgammon Online with Friends: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBackgammon ZoneBackgammon Online with Friends
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaurizio MarianiNTSAUTOSIGA LLC

In-app purchases

None

Backgammon Zone

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Backgammon Online with Friends

One-time7
  • Tea for Gocha$0.99
  • Night board$1.99
  • Tbilisi board$1.99
Show 4 more
  • Istanbul board$1.99
  • Dinner for the yard$4.99
  • Narde Pro$5.99
  • A new board for the yard$9.99

Questions

Is Backgammon Zone free?
Backgammon Zone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Backgammon Online with Friends free?
Backgammon Online with Friends is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Backgammon Zone or Backgammon Online with Friends have ads?
Backgammon Zone shows ads; Backgammon Online with Friends does not.
Which is updated more often, Backgammon Zone or Backgammon Online with Friends?
Backgammon Zone ships an update every 2 days, and Backgammon Online with Friends every 2 weeks. Most recently, Backgammon Zone was updated on October 15, 2026 and Backgammon Online with Friends on October 8, 2026.

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