Backgammon for Palm OS v4.1

In today’s mobile world your mobile device can be both a powerful business tool and an entertainment center. So why not carry your favourite game with you at all times? Winningbackgammon.info tested two excellent mobile backgammon software: Backgammon for Palm OS v4.1 from Handmark and Backgammon Pro for Palm OS v1.27 from Stand Alone, Inc. First we’ll have a look at Handmark’s interpretation of backgammon.

Handmark has been producing quality software for PDA’s and smartphones for a long time now. They have a good selection of classic board games, among them Backgammon for Palm OS v4.1. The game is available for other platforms as well and the differences are not big. In this review, however, we’ll test the Palm OS version for the simple reason that the reviewer happened have a Palm OS device.

First impression

The installation of Handmark’s Backgammon was a breeze; download, hotsync and you are ready to go. Once you start the game you are presented with a very simple, easy-to-understand menu, settings and backgammon board. And when I mean simple I mean simple in a positive way! It’s a feeling what you can describe as.. refreshing. No hassle, no confusion - it’s just backgammon.

Game settings

In the “Preferences” menu you can change a few basic settings: your checker colours, computer skill level, board layout, doubling cube and Crawford rule toggles and match length. For older devices you can also adjust the colour depth.

Three computer skill levels are available: Beginner, Intermediate and Expert. While Beginner level really feels as if you would play against a beginner player, Expert level gives good challenge for a long way to come. Ok, perhaps it’s not Snowie or GNU but it surely puts up a good fight! It is also possible to have two human players playing against each other, in which case the device needs handed over to the other player each turn. Without the possibility of playing Handmark’s Backgammon wirelessly against each other on two devices, it is a simple solution that still works fine.

Now, while the settings are clear and you definitely can’t get lost in them, you might wonder if this level of customization is enough. I guess it depends who is playing. It is enough for novice players and those who want to play a match or two every now and then to keep up the routine for the game. Experienced players, however, might consider the settings rather minimalistic. Especially when you compare the level of settings to Backgammon Pro from Stand Alone, which we review later, you can only talk about basic settings here.

I also missed the possibility to freely adjust the match length. Five point matches are great in that they are short but are not too short, but I would’ve liked to see 7 and 9 point matches available in addition to the current 1, 5 and 11 point matches.

Each screen includes an info page that can be accessed from the “i” in the right upper corner. The info page explains in simple terms the contents of the screen.

The Game

When you first start a game the backgammon board makes a really nice impression. It is very clear and uses good colours. The dice and the Doubling Cube under the board, above the board you see the score, you have the auto-roll toggle buttons, the undo button and a magnifying glass showing the Statistics page. But hey - where is the pip count? Well, it is on the Statistics page. While only one tap away it is somewhat disappointing that the pip count is not shown on the main game screen but on the Statistics page as there would’ve been enough space for that e.g. below the board.

Another slightly annoying feature is that once you start bearing off checkers they simply disappear from the board. They are not laid aside like what you are probably used to in other backgammon software. Again, you will need to check the Statistics page to check the number of checkers born off by each player.

The pip count and born off checkers solution has to do with the overall layout design. The utilized screen size is 320 x 320 pixels. Although it works well it does leave a lot of unused space on the T|X. The game plays well both in portrait and landscape modes but landscape mode doesn’t use the screen size any better. Then again, many smartphones like the Treo 650 have only 320 x 320 screens and at the time when this game was first developed there were not that many devices with large screens around. I guess the designers had to come up with a solution that made the actual gameplay screen nice and clear, but it forced them to make certain compromises.

Playing is very simple and intuitive. Once you have rolled the dice you can choose which die will be the subject of the first move. Holding down the stylus on a checker will show you where you can move it. A single tap on the checker will then move it to the desired point. Unfortunately the game doesn’t highlight where a checker can be moved with both dice but it shows only one move.

A slight downside in the gameplay is that you don’t see the computer’s checkers moving but you only see where the computer wants to move them. His checkers appear slightly greyed out and his move is final once you click on the “Done” button. This requires getting used to and often in the beginning you might want to opt for reviewing the computer’s move before you accept it.

Other than that there isn’t that much to the game. Gameplay is easy and you can really focus on the game from the first minute on instead of having to figure out what button does what.

Conclusion

Handmark’s Backgammon for Palm OS v4.1 is great. It’s easy of use, clarity and good computer AI make this a very good choice for a backgammon game to carry with you. However, because of it’s minimalistic approach and certain design flaws it might not appeal to more advanced backgammon players. The flaws are not that bad, though, and we at WinningBackgammon can certainly live with it. We suggest you give it a go and download a free trial version at http://www.handmark.com.

Pros
+ Good AI
+ Very easy to use
+ Overall clarity

Cons
- Pip count & born off checkers not on main screen
- Only the first die move shown
- Somewhat limited game options
- No large screen support