Download David's Backgammon for Mac - Entertain yourself at a game of Backgammon. MacUpdate Mac Card & Board Software Downloads

David's BackGammon allows you to entertain yourself at a game of Backgammon. Has 5 skill levels, as well as gives you advice on moves and the doubling cube, can take back moves and doubles of the cube, on-line help, can pick up more than one piece at a time, shows best moves, can set up any board situation, can change board colors or create your own, multiple board sizes, tournament play, extensive help system, keeps statistics on up to 4 pairs of players, can setup and rollout any game situation, plus much more. Works with Intel macs and OS X, including Leopard!.

Version 5.85:

no more blank dice. They are on the board frame untill they are rolled.
after a player has played his turn, the dice rolled are displayed on the board frame
fixed the Registration and Info menu items that go to websites
5.8 requires a new password. It has been 20 months since it has been changed. So don't replace your old version until you know you want this one.
works with Snow Leopard (with Rosetta installed)

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SAUL LANIADO Had a personal, not program problem, in configuring my game. Received nothing but A1 support, information and help from David. I bought David's to get reacquainted with backgammon and it has fulfilled all my expectations. I highly recommend David's Backgammon.
(Version 5.8.2)

MARCDESWEEMER I have used this game for more then two decade and NEVER be worried about the dice points.

It worked with ALL Apple Systems since 7 and if there was an error it was ALWAYS fixed in less then a day.

I'm 62 and a Mac user since 1985 and I have fun with it,

and that is what I want !

Thank you David for all this funny years.

Belgium
(Version 5.8.2)

GAMMONSOFT Glad to hear that the last 2 guys have been enjoying the game for so long.

The dice rolls are selected at the time of the roll using a random number generator. That is true for all skill levels. No cheating going on.

Years of programming and research, as well as playing backgammon, went into creating the skill of the computer opponent, not cheating.
(Version 5.7.3)

Replies:

Jul 23 2008

NOTAFOOL David,

Would you actually tell anyone if it DID in fact cheat constantly ? You are in BUSINESS. You make MONEY out of flogging this product. So your assurances that it doesn't cheat are worthless. When are you going to ever get the product properly (i.e. statistically) evaluated by a TOTALLY INDEPENDENT BACKGAMMON/STATISTICAL/SCIENTIFIC EXPERT WHO HAS ABSOLUTELY NO VESTED INTEREST IN THE OUTCOME ? Until such time as you do, the constant and long-time accusations (fully justified in my view) that the computer opponent has been cleverly programmed to cheat will keep coming. If you truly believed that your product did not cheat you would have no qualms whatsoever about having a truly independent expert test it. If he/she eventually confirmed that it does NOT cheat, you could sell it for twice the price and never have to put up with those irritating folk (such as me and heaps of others) that don't believe a word of your assertions about your product.
(Version 5.7.5)

-7

Jul 24 2008

GAMMONSOFT How would I find a "TOTALLY INDEPENDENT BACKGAMMON/STATISTICAL/SCIENTIFIC EXPERT WHO HAS ABSOLUTELY NO VESTED INTEREST IN THE OUTCOME"

Who might this be? I think the only way you would trust a person is if you chose them yourself. I suggest you find a person like that and have them examine the game. Since the game does produce random dice rolls, I would encourage it.

Since you think the game picks the rolls it needs to take advantage of the situation it finds itself in, I suggest you try my other backgammon game - Absolute Backgammon. It has an option to have a series of random dice rolls generated just before the game start. During the game, these dice rolls are used (you can view them to see). That way you can know for sure that the dice rolls are NOT picked for the situation. If you still think the computer gives itself better rolls, it also gives you a chance to choose to use its dice instead.

Your expert could also analyze a few of these series of dice rolls to determine the probability they are random or not.

I have analyzed the dice rolls for many thousands of rolls looking for patterns and looking at the distribution of dice rolls. All is as it should be. There are no detectable patterns and the distribution of dice rolls is correct: each of the 36 possible rolls comes up equally over many thousands of rolls.

Feel free to email me at macgammon@aol.com.
(Version 5.7.5)

FICHEYE Well now. I enjoyed reading a comment that reflects, exactly, what I have felt about this game for some time. Thanks for the well worded vindication.

The game is really good, but questions arise when the skill level seems to be defined by the dice rolls and not by actual game play.
(Version 5.7.3)

BGADDICT I became a backgammon addict many years ago before the advent of computers. Because there weren't always humans around to play, I played the game less and less as the years went by. I discovered David's game and quickly became addicted (I work for myself at home and have too much non-work time on my hands :) ).

David is very prompt and courteous in his responses to questions and makes the game easy to buy. It's easy to play and a challenge -- to a point -- even for someone who fancies himself a pretty good player, as I do.

The problem is, as I played more and more (at the Club Champ level), it seemed to me more and more that the computer was using the dice rather than strategy to be competitive. I have no scientific basis for this observation, but after a lot of gameplay it just seems that the computer gets the great roll when it needs it. In particular, when the computer needs a particular number, it often seems not only to get that number very often, but also doubles of that number. I suspect that it's programmed to get a high occurrence of that particular number on one die with the other die being random which, of course, often results in doubles of that number.

Also, whenever I'm on the bar I have a much more difficult time getting back in than does the computer, even if there are 3, 4 or even 5 open points. When on the bar I get an extraordinary number of double 6's, which serves 2 purposes: (1) it makes the computer a "better" player; and (2) if someone were to analyze dice rolls, they would find I get my share of double 6's although, unfortunately, almost always at the wrong time. And I can't tell you how many times I've set myself up very well for a prime, needing only to roll either, for example, a 2, 3 or 5, but will consistently fail to roll one of those numbers for several rolls, which is a mathematical improbability to say the least.

I don't want to get overly critical because there is a paucity of backgammon games on the market and David's seems to be about the best. But when you play intensely and reasonably well, as I do, only to see the computer miraculously roll the perfect dice (or roll the worst for me), it gets very frustrating.

At lower levels of expertise I suspect the game is more fun for those who haven't been playing backgammon for more than 30 years (as I have) or for those who are just learning or are novices. I'd love to play a game where the dice rolls are truly random and the AI sophisticated enough to play at my level without the help of the dice. But I've yet to find such a game.

This game is quite a good effort by David but falls short from the AI perspective, at least at the highest level of play.
(Version 5.7.3)

Replies:

Jun 15 2008

GAMMONSOFT BDAddict has the game he is looking for since the dice roll are determined using a random number generator.
(Version 5.7.3)

TED S I'm a former Vista user and needed backgammon for OS X. This is a great game; however, on my large monitor the dice appeared proportionately small. I emailed David and within a few hours he sent me an upgrade. The dice are right for me now. That's incredible customer service!
(Version 5.6.2)

CERULEAN I have been playing this game in an older version for about ten years and have alway enjoyed it. But now that I have purchased the latest version I enjoy it even more. It is well thought out. The graphics are good. It gives lots of choice for personal preferences and it gives hints if you want to have them. I

can highly recommend it.
(Version 5.6.2)

KCG David's Backgammon is a very strong product... well thought out, and dependable. With slight polish in some UI areas, it would be perfect. Well worth the money as it is.
(Version 5.6.2)

VRAIREAL I used to feel the same way as ficheye until I just garbaged the game. Best move I made since I bought the game a few years ago. I can only say to prospective buyers to go ahead and try the demo and find out by yourselves.

No use to argue with Gammonsoft, since he cannot be neutral about the game, he is trying to make some money with it. What do you expect his comments will be. Make your own opinion and try it before buying.
(Version 5.6.1)

GAMMONSOFT Please go past FICHEYEs rantings to get to the honest reviews.

Or you can read all of his posts by clicking on FICHEYE in his posts. I think you will get the picture.
(Version 5.6.1)