I still remember the first board game I really enjoyed playing. The first time I understood the strategies behind the moves, how the pieces worked, and how to win without just getting lucky.  That game, for me, was Backgammon.  My first introduction to Backgammon came when I was a young boy.  My Dad arrived home from work with a strange box under his arm.  I opened it up and was presented by an odd looking game board.  It looked exceptionally sophisticated with its alternating triangles and "pips" that looked like checker pieces, but had magnets on the back.  And so, began, a lifelong love affair with the game of Backgammon. 

When I got my Pocket PC, one of the first things I did was try to find a good backgammon game.  I tried dozens of them from freeware to extremely expensive-ware.  None of them satisfied me.  Either the graphics were poor, the artificial intelligence was set incorrectly, or the rules were just plain wrong.  Like Indiana Jones searching for the Holy Grail, I hunted through the muck and finally game out on the other side holding ZingMagic Backgammon for Windows Pocket PC.

Installation and Registration:  Simply download the desktop installation package and install it onto your device via ActiveSync.  Unfortunately, ZingMagic does not offer a trial period.  I regularly advise people not to buy a game unless they can test it out first.  It is hard to determine whether a game will live up to your expectations by simply reading a quick blurb and looking at a screenshot or two. 

GamePlay: It is difficult to explain how the game is played without giving you a full tutorial.  I will try to give you the short version.  Each player starts with 15 pips, arranged in a predetermined pattern on the board.  The goal of the game is to clear all of your pips off the board first.  To do this, you must bring them all into your "home quadrant" of the board, and then off the board and into the rack.  Movement is determined by rolling the dice.  With each roll, you can choose to move one piece a number of spaces equal to the total of both dice, or move one piece for each die.  You must move exactly the number shown on the dice, however.  Thus, if you rolled a 6 and a 4, you could move one piece ten, or two pieces six and four each.  You could not, however, move one piece three and the other seven, even though that would also total 10.  Again, the first one to move all of their pieces off the board wins.  Of course, like most games, it is a bit more complicated than that, but you get the idea.

Graphics and Animation: The graphics are well drawn.  The dice literally bounce across the screen when they are thrown.  There are two color schemes from which you may choose for the pips: black and white or yellow and red.  It would be nice, however, if there was an option to customize or skin the board, pips and dice. 

Additionally, the graphics appear to be drawn in QVGA, which was a bit disappointing.  I would love to see how this game can look in full VGA display.

Setup Game: The Setup Game option gives you full control over the presentation of the game board.  You can decide which player will defend each side of the board, and which player will go first to begin the game.

Difficulty Level: One of the great things about ZingMagic Backgammon that really makes it stand out from other backgammon games I have played are the numerous difficulty levels.  Select from six difficulty levels, or play against another person in head-to-head competition.  To select a difficulty level, simply choose the Players Option and then select an opponent. Each opponent is assigned a different level of difficulty from Selma (beginner) to Aristo the Expert. 

Tap on each opponent to learn more about them or to edit their attributes.  Want to play against Aristo, but do not look forward to playing an expert?  Edit his attributes, make him a beginner and play against him at your level.

Hints and Tips:  There are a number of ways beginners can get help and learn the rules and strategies of the game.  First, turn on the Pip Count under the tools menu.  The pip count helps you easily tell who is winning the game.  Each space is assigned a value the further the space is from the goal, the higher the value.  The player with the lower pip count at any given time is winning. 

You can also select to show legal moves.  When this option is selected, just tap on any pip on the board, and a corresponding pip will flash anywhere that pip could legally move.  Although this is an extremely helpful option to have, I found the execution of it to be annoying and confusing.  Rather than have a mock or ghost pip flash, it would be easier to understand if an arrow lit up or if the space under the pips lit up for any legal moves. 

Options:  In addition, under the options menu you can also control the speed of the game and the rules.  One standard rule is the doubling dice.  Backgammon is typically played as a best three out of five, with each game being worth one point.  With the doubling dice, you can make each game with two or more points.  This can add a whole new dimension to the game, and is frequently not used by beginners. 

Artificial Intelligence: As I have mentioned, the biggest problem I have experienced with backgammon games is the artificial intelligence.  The computer either rolls the dice perfectly every time, or cannot make independent strategic decisions.  Either way, the game will be either too difficult or too easy…not much fun in both cases.  ZingMagic did a good job with the artificial intelligence in this game.  I liked the fact that there were numerous different difficulty levels which means the computer can adapt to your level of play. 

Conclusion: There are not a lot of backgammon games available for the Pocket PC, and the number of those that work well is extremely slim.  As such, it would not be the highest compliment to say this is among the best Backgammon games I have played…it is a relatively mediocre field to say the least.  Nonetheless, this game functioned extremely well.  I was impressed with the artificial intelligence, which seems to be the downfall of most Pocket PC Backgammon games.  I wish, however, that it included VGA graphics.  I am anxious to take a look at the next version, in the hopes that the graphics will have improved to VGA quality.  Until then, the search for my "Holy Grail" continues.

Vital Statistics:

Name: Backgammon

Version: 2.00F

Platform: WM 2003 SE

Also Available: WM5, S60 platform, S60 3rd edition platform, UIQ platform, UIQ 3rd edition platform, Nokia 9210, 9210i + 9290, Nokia 9300, 9300i + 9500, Palm OS

Developer: ZingMagic

Available From: ZingMagic

                           JAMM Store

Technorati Tags: ZingMagic – BackGammon – Just – Another – Mobile – Monday

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