Ronin Gambit - Backgammon

Backgammon, made properly.

A three-dimensional board on a low lacquered table, one oil lamp,

thirty carved warriors. You play. Nothing else asks for your

attention.

The game reached Japan as ban-sugoroku by the seventh century. It

was forbidden by imperial edict in the year 689 — and banned again,

and again. The samurai kept playing. This is that game, restored

rather than reskinned.

AN OPPONENT WORTH THE EVENING

The Warlord is not a dice-roller with a name. It looks ahead at

every reply you could roll, and it plays for the things that

actually win games: primes, an anchor in your home board, and never

leaving a checker where you can reach it. Leave a loose blot and it

will take it.

DICE YOU CAN CHECK

Every backgammon app gets accused of unfair dice, and none of them

can disprove it. This one publishes a sealed number before the

first roll, derives every roll of the game from it, and reveals the

seed once the game is over — so you can confirm afterwards that

nothing was re-rolled to suit the computer once it had seen the

board. Tap the Sealed Cup at any time to look.

THE HARD RULES, DONE RIGHT

The rules that decide close games are the ones worth getting right.

Every one of these is covered by automated tests:

• Forced maximum use of the dice, including the awkward positions

• Correct entry from the bar before anything else may move

• Bearing off with an oversized die

• Gammons and backgammons detected correctly

• The doubling cube, with accept, yield and redouble

• Unlimited undo until you commit your turn

THE DOUBLING CUBE, IN PLAIN WORDS

A game begins worth one point. Double it when you believe you are

ahead, and the Warlord must either play on for two points or

concede the one point now. The app always spells out both outcomes

in points, side by side, so you can decide sensibly the very first

time you see it. There is no timer. Take as long as you like.

EIGHT HOUSES, ALL INCLUDED

Air, Earth, Fire, Light, Mystic, Nature, Shadow and Water each

dress the board differently: the colour of the lacquer, the metal

struck into the points, the shape of the triangles, the crest on

your checkers, and the light in the room. Change yours whenever you

like. Nothing is locked and nothing is for sale.

WHAT THIS APP DOES NOT DO

• No adverts. None between turns, none anywhere.

• No purchases. Nothing is held back behind a payment.

• No account, no sign-up, no email address.

• No internet connection needed — it works on a plane, on a train,

and in a waiting room.

• No data collected. Nothing about you leaves your phone, because

nothing is sent anywhere at all.

• No leaderboards, streaks, daily rewards or notifications asking

you to come back.

BUILT TO BE READ

Two colours of checker on a coloured board is a hard thing to see.

Every signal in this game carries without relying on colour —

shape, brightness and pattern say it too. Reduced motion is

supported.

HONEST ABOUT THIS VERSION

Single player against the Warlords. Online play and pass-and-play

are not in this version. Match play to a target score is not

either - each game stands on its own, and a running total is kept

for the session.

Free. Ad-free. Offline. No catch.