Ariston Backgammon for Windows

User Reviews

• Best game for the money.

  GammmonApril 7, 2014

  Pros

  You can play from left to right or right to left. Many beautiful color options for board layout. Dicebox, so you can roll the dice yourself. Keeps track of scores and game wins. Provides a very challenging opponent.

  Cons

  Difficulty of different levels is established by "luckier" dice rolls by the game, not better or less experienced moves.

  Summary

  I only graded it 2 stars because I didn't think it deserved to be 5 overall. This will bring the average down. Normally I would have given it 3.5 stars. In short, it cheats. And the Manual admits it. There are 2 difficulty levels, 80% and 100%. For the 100% level, the Manual says: "The AI is playing brutally strong which lets you doubt about the fairness of the random dice generator." It makes the game harder to beat by using "luckier rolls" rather than by making better moves. The manual also gives a complicated method of testing the fairness of the random dice generator but this is really beside the point, because the bottom line is what roll the game gives itself. It already says "brutally strong". It is especially strong and increases it's luck as cube is used and the stakes rise, regardless of the skill level. I do believe the rolls are always random regardless of what the AI (random dice roll generator) rolls. To check the game's "fairness", all you have to do is roll your own dice and move your pieces by clicking in the roll using the dicebox, available up on the toolbar. Thus you are bypassing the AI. If you click on the numbers in the dicebox, the dice show the roll you just clicked in. Then click on the piece(s) you want to move. When the game's rolls are clicked in, the game will make it's own moves. I've played this way for hundreds of games using a small pair of dice to roll with, after getting sick of the ridiculously lucky rolls by the AI. I find it a lot of fun, and I get a fair and very challenging game every time. Using the AI, the game seems to use the same strategy over and over. Using the dicebox and clicking in the rolls changes the diversity of the game's moves, also. I highly recommend this product, but only if partially played manually by using your own dice along with clicking in each roll using the dicebox. The game is not fair using the AI. -cjf

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• The best backgammon game I have downloaded.

  sunpigDecember 23, 2011

  Pros

  Best AI and most easy to use.

  Cons

  It is not for free

  Summary

  If you are a backgammon freak like me, you want this game. The best computer opponent, excellent graphics and the option to roll dice or use computer generated ones.

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