4 free games
Free Board Games Online
Classic board games for two, with the computer across the table: jump and crown in checkers, race your checkers home in backgammon, drop discs to line up four, or build words on a board of bonus squares. Each one has several levels, so the computer can be a patient teacher or a hard rival.
Top picks
- Checkers: Play the Computer
American checkers with compulsory captures and kings. Every legal move is shown, undo is free, and five new puzzles arrive each day.
- Backgammon: Play the Computer
Race all fifteen checkers home and bear them off first. Hit lone checkers, build blocking points and play the daily dice everyone shares.
- Four in a Row: Play the Computer
Seven columns, two colors, one goal: four in a line. Play the computer, a friend on the same screen, or five daily puzzles.
- Letter Duel
A word game on a 12×12 board. Land tiles on bonus squares, use all seven for 30 extra points and beat opponents from Easy to Expert.
Checkers and four in a row: pure strategy
There is no luck in checkers or four in a row. Both players see everything, so every game is won by thinking further ahead. Checkers: Play the Computer uses the American rules by default: pieces move one square diagonally forward, jump over the other side's pieces to capture them, and become kings when they reach the far row. A capture you can make must be made, and the pieces that can take are lit up, so you never have to wonder whether a move is allowed.
Four in a Row: Play the Computer is quicker to learn. Drop discs into seven columns and connect four in a line, across, up and down or on a slant, before the computer does. The middle column is the strongest place to start, because it is part of the most possible lines.
Backgammon: strategy with dice
Backgammon: Play the Computer brings dice to the board. You and the computer race fifteen checkers each around the board in opposite directions, and the first to bring them all home and bear them off wins. The dice decide how far you move, but you decide which checkers move, when to leave one alone where it can be hit, and when to build a wall of points the other side cannot get past. Over many games, that judgment beats luck.
A board game with words
Letter Duel is a crossword board game against the computer. You take turns laying letter tiles on a 12×12 board to make English words that join the ones already there, and colored squares double or triple a letter or a whole word. Use all seven of your tiles in one turn for a 30-point bonus.
Daily puzzles and daily games
Checkers: Play the Computer and Four in a Row: Play the Computer each set five new puzzles every day, the same for everyone. In checkers you look for the one move that wins pieces or the game. In four in a row you find the forced win within the par number of moves against a computer that defends perfectly. Backgammon: Play the Computer has a daily game instead: one game against the Hard computer, with the same dice in the same order for everyone. Daily scores go on the leaderboard.
FAQ
- Are these board games free?
- Yes. Every board game on After School Play is free to play in your browser, with no download and no sign-up.
- Can I play against a friend?
- Four in a Row has a two-player mode: pick Two players and pass the device back and forth. Checkers, Backgammon and Letter Duel are played against the computer.
- How strong is the computer?
- Each game has several levels. Easy plays loosely so you can learn, and the top level of Checkers and Four in a Row searches many moves ahead and is very hard to beat. Backgammon always keeps some luck, so any level can lose to a good roll.
- Which checkers rules do you use?
- American checkers on an 8×8 board: men move diagonally forward, kings move both ways, and captures are compulsory. You can turn compulsory captures off for a casual game. The daily puzzles always use the standard rule.
- Do these board games work on a phone?
- Yes. Tap or drag pieces on a phone or tablet, or click with a mouse on a computer.
