Absolute Backgammon 5.2.4

This is a fun, attractive game.

The AI is pretty good.

I have learned quite a bit, and am becoming a better backgammon player.

With realistic roll and board sounds, options galore! This game rocks. Well done! Simple-flawless installation and easy to learn. I have to say even more fun than playing with a "real" board. Whether playing the computer (he's such a nice sounding guy) but tough. Don't let that smooth voice fool you...Fun to play with a partner too. Great features and supberb customer support. well worth the price! Thank you!

This game is VERY challenging and plays an excellent game. It never gets old, and I highly recommend it!

looks pretty well, but it's level of play is mediocre (to be quite polite)

I had been using an older OS version of David's Backgammon for many years and loved it. But the playing field was small and I got tired of having to reboot into OSX in order to play. So, I finally downloaded a demo version of Absolute Backgammon the other day and I am delighted with the large board and the ease of play.

I totally agree with the last reviewer. Great fun. A plethora of options. Real eye candy. For beckgammon lovers, this one is a must-have!

Wow! It's getting better and better! It is absolutely the best backgammon game in town. Native OS X. Incredible number of options and features, fast graphics and nice sound efects. Great set of skill levels from beginers to pros. Addictive fun!

Developer has taken the time to create a fun, beautiful-looking game that is truly a pleasure to play. I purchased the full version two days ago and have played at least 30 matches so far.

The computer is a tough opponent, to be sure, but I am confident that my game is improving as a result of my matches, and I can't wait to jump on CocoaFIBS of YahooGames and see how I stack-up against my old opponents!

I am what you could call a hard core backgammon addict, and rarely does a day go by without me and and a couple of friends playing at least one game of gammon. But sadly, some times friends are occupied by other things..

Enter absolute backgammon.

I see a lot of complaining about the dice outcome favoring the computer, but i could not agree less. I play both real backgammon and online backgammon a lot, and trust me when I say that both me and my friends have sworn more than once over the unfair luck you sometimes have with the dice, and I have not found this game to be any different. That's why I gladly paid for it.

Now, i've never heard of the variations of the game that stam is referring to, but it sounds like a great idea to implement those variations, as any thing that makes the game more challenging would be greatly appreciated.

I come from a country where backgammon is part of our culture, every one knows how to play, every one spent countless thousands of hours playing this game. The fact is, that particularly with this (the "international" variant of backgammon) there is little strategic thought for experienced players. There are only so many "set pieces" and once you're experienced you have automatic responses for practically all situations.

The game is govererned by the roll of the dice, the rest is automatic (there are 2 other variants of backgammon played in Greece which have a significantly higher element of strategic play, but are practically unknown anywhere else sadly).

Why am i mentioning this? Well, as others have mentioned, it's impossible to not feel like you've been cheated continuously by this program. The ratio with which the app wins seems like 4-5:1. When it's winning, it reliably rolls doubles 4-5 times more frequently than the human player, and when the latter rolls 5's or 6's, you can bet that it will be detrimental.

I've seen comments amongst the suspiciously large amount of 5 star ratings that follow each detrimental commentary, that people who say this "have not logged enough hours on the analog version" or something similar. Well, I've "logged" well over 20,000 misspent hours on the real version of this game, and can assure you that even if you're on a losing streak playing against a really lucky person, it's never like this on a continuous basis. It's very clear that even if the program doesn't cheat, it has a very flawed dice rolling system.

In most other respects, the program is polished and pleasant, and for inexperienced players, this will be a nice program. Most others won't want to bother in the long term (i tried about 30 matches in demo mode, and will clearly not be paying for this in it's current form).

One suggestion for the author (apart from sorting out the dice rolling problem) is considering integrating the 2 other variants played widely in Greece. While these are not well known in other countries, they do provide significantly higher degree of strategic challenge. The 3 variants are usually played in rotation to provide variety and will undoubtedly increase the longevity of the app.