Changing the Dice

The are a multitude of variants of backgammon in existence. Many of them make large and fundamental changes to the way the game is played, but almost all of them have one major thing in common. They use traditional dice.

One way to switch up your backgammon game is to use dice of different values. "Different values?" you ask, "what does that mean?" Well, there aren't just dice valued from one to six out there. In fact, there are dice ranging from anywhere from four to one hundred sides. Now obviously, a one hundred sided die is going to be way too much for backgammon, but the smaller valued dice can add an interesting and unique twist to your game.

Four sided dice, for example, will slow down the general pace of the game. The greatest distance you can move is, obviously, four. But on the other hand, because there are less chances on each dice, the chances of getting a double increase: from one in thirty-six, to one in sixteen. So while your average roll will result in less than normal amounts of movement, the doubles will come quicker, definitely speeding up the final stages of the game.

Bigger dice have an opposite effect. Using two eight sided dice will allow you to move further on average, but your chances of rolling a double go down to one in sixty-four. Ten sided dice, probably the largest size you'd want to use in backgammon, will lead to dramatic moves, but doubles will only come once in a hundred rolls (on average, of course).