A demonstration of Draughts, played by the computer against itself.
Draughts — playing itself
Ways to play
Alone, against the computer
Your own pace, no arranging anything. Take a move back whenever you like.
Play alone5 opponents, weakest first
- LearningSees the move in front of it and often takes the first thing offered.
- CasualLooks a move ahead and will not hang a man for nothing.
- SteadyFour ply. Finds the two-for-one and takes it.
- SharpSix ply, and follows a forced run all the way to its end.
- RelentlessEight ply. Sets shots up several moves before they land — though twenty measured games against Sharp came out level.
Together, in the same room
2 players. One device goes round the table, or everybody plays off the same screen.
Play in the same roomOnline, at a table
A room code, joinable from anywhere. Pause tonight and pick it up next week from your device.
Play online
About
English draughts, complete. Twelve men a side on the dark squares, and one rule that runs the whole game: if you can take, you must.
How it feels
- Direct
- Tactical
- Quick to teach
What the design is for
Capturing is compulsory
One jump anywhere on the board makes every other move illegal — including moves by men in the far corner who cannot see it. Choosing the short capture over the long one is a decision, not a mistake.
A turn is a whole route
A multi-jump is one move, however many hops it takes. The board plays out the forced ones for you and asks only where there is a genuine choice.
English rules, and only those
Men do not jump backwards, kings are short-range, and a man crowned mid-jump stops there. The international game is a different game and is not pretending to be here.
An opponent that does not depend on your computer
Bounded by positions counted rather than by a clock, so the same seed plays the same move on any machine.
A winner that gets on with it
Once the computer is a man ahead it breaks a deadlock rather than shuffling kings to the forty-move draw. It cut the dead stretch at the end of a game between the top two rungs from sixty plies to twenty-one.
- Best at
- —
- Kind
- Classic
- Table
- Competitive
- Studio
- Classics
The opponents
Learning
Sees the move in front of it and often takes the first thing offered.
Casual
Looks a move ahead and will not hang a man for nothing.
Steady
Four ply. Finds the two-for-one and takes it.
Sharp
Six ply, and follows a forced run all the way to its end.
Relentless
Eight ply. Sets shots up several moves before they land — though twenty measured games against Sharp came out level.
Achievements
0 of 4 earned
The Far Side
Win a game of draughts.
All Twelve
Win without losing a single man.
Three at a Time
Take three or more men in one turn.
No Crown Needed
Win without ever crowning a man.
Key art
Key art — Board.game art system
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