Tavla vs Backgammon for Tea
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tavla
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Play classic Turkish backgammon without rotating your phone. Tavla: Online combines a wooden board with smooth dice and checker animations. JOIN A TABLE • Find a new opponent with quick matchmaking. • Invite friends to a private table. • Start as a guest or sign in with Apple or Google. EVERY MOVE WITHIN REACH • Touch and drag controls designed for portrait play. • Clear checkers and green highlights for available destinations. • Watch a checker move step by step when using multiple dice. • Normal wins, gammon and backgammon results. KEEP PLAYING • Review your match summary and history, request a rematch or find a new opponent. • Follow your league, statistics and weekly ranking. • Personalize your profile with avatars and cosmetic options. • Share emoji and preset messages at the table. Dice and moves are validated by the server. Cosmetics and ads do not change the game rules or dice in your favour. Coins are for in-game use only and cannot be exchanged for cash. Contains ads. Spend earned coins on board, checker and dice styles and keep them in your inventory. Usage analytics is enabled by default and crash reporting is disabled. You can control each separately in Settings; a previously disabled analytics preference stays off. Account deletion, privacy and support options are available in the app.
Backgammon for Tea
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The tea is ordered and the board is open. Across the table sit the six regulars of a Turkish coffeehouse. There is no money and there are no coins on the table; you play over tea. Honest dice, and the proof is on screen Every roll of a match is fixed and sealed before the first one is thrown. The seal stays on screen for the whole match. When the match ends the seed opens, and the dice log recomputes every roll from it and shows whether the seal holds. Your opponent's strength never comes from the dice: each regular has an error budget, written on screen, and the difficulty comes from that. Six regulars Emre, the apprentice at the tea stove, hates leaving a checker open. Nermin Öğretmen builds points and waits. Cemal the taxi driver hits whatever he can. Suna the pharmacist never leaves a checker behind. Rıza Usta, who runs the place, plays a balanced game. Süreyya Bey at the corner table hardly makes a mistake. They all talk and call the dice; you can turn the voices off. Same-dice rematch If you think the dice ran their way, ask for a rematch with the same dice. The seats swap: you get the rolls your opponent had in the first match. Luck or moves After each game there is a short summary: what the dice gave each side, what the mistakes cost, your costliest move and what could have been played instead. The summary is an estimate, and the screen says so. The game - Turkish rules: a mars (gammon) counts two points, and there is no doubling cube. - Matches to 3, 5 or 7 points. - Drag a checker or tap it; undo a move, ask for a hint when you are stuck. - Plays offline. No account. - iPhone and iPad. On iPad it plays in portrait and landscape. - Turkish and English. Ads An ad appears only after a match has ended, never while you are playing. The same-dice rematch is never behind an ad. A one-time purchase removes the ads between matches. No coins, no lives, no energy and no waiting.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tavla at none against Backgammon for Tea's 1. Tavla also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Backgammon for Tea's advantage is update cadence (daily vs weekly). On price, 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 for Tea sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tavla asks for nothing beyond the download.
Tavla ships an update weekly, Backgammon for Tea daily. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tavla | Backgammon for Tea |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Daily — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 116 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Umit Cagdas | Orhan Ege Bilge |
In-app purchases
Tavla
No in-app purchases
Backgammon for Tea
- Remove Ads$4.99
Questions
Is Tavla free?
Is Backgammon for Tea free?
Do Tavla or Backgammon for Tea have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tavla or Backgammon for Tea?
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