A free backgammon game for Windows

Backgammon is free on Windows in Games by Zaweba, where it goes by its old name, Tables. You play against the computer, racing your fifteen checkers home and bearing them off before your opponent. It runs offline with no adverts and no account.

Tables is one of the oldest names for the game, and the app uses it for its version on a wooden board. The rules are the familiar ones, so if you already play backgammon you'll be at home straight away.

How Tables plays

Roll two dice and move your white checkers anticlockwise towards your home board at the bottom right. Doubles are played four times. A lone checker that's hit by your opponent goes on the bar, and it has to come back into play before you can move anything else.

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you can start bearing them off. The first player to bear off every checker wins. A gammon, where the opponent hasn't borne any off, scores 2, and a backgammon scores 3.

To play, click Roll, then click a checker and a glowing point (or the OFF tray to bear off). Space or R rolls, and U undoes your moves for the turn. Tables is on the Board games shelf.

Tips for a stronger game

Make points, not blots. Two or more of your checkers on a point make it safe. A single checker, a blot, can be hit and sent to the bar. Early in the game, try to use your rolls to build safe points rather than scatter checkers.

Build a wall. Several made points in a row in front of the computer's back checkers make it hard for them to escape. That's one of the strongest positions you can aim for.

Get your back checkers moving. Your two furthest checkers have the longest way to go and are easiest to trap. Don't leave them behind for too long.

Read the race. When the checkers have passed each other and there's no more contact, it's purely a race. At that point, safety matters less than moving efficiently and bearing off quickly.

Use undo while you learn. Because U undoes your moves for the turn, you can try a few ways to play a roll and compare them before committing.

The point of the gammon

Winning big matters in Tables. Bearing off all fifteen before the computer has borne off any scores a gammon, worth 2, and a backgammon scores 3. If you're well ahead, it can be worth pressing on rather than playing safe, to turn a win into a bigger one.

Games by Zaweba keeps your best score for each game and mode, along with plays and wins, on the game's tile. The scores file is in your own settings folder and never leaves the PC.

Settling in for a game

Tables suits an unhurried game. Esc pauses whenever you need it, and the game also pauses itself when the window loses focus. F11 makes the board fill the screen, which makes the points easier to click on a laptop, and F1 explains the rules at any time.

If you enjoy dice and strategy, the Board games shelf also has Race Home, the cross-and-circle race game for four, Five Dice, the thirteen-box dice game, and Block Dominoes. For pure strategy without dice, try Draughts or Mill.