ROGUEGAMMON

ROGUEGAMMON is real backgammon against the CPU, with one twist: before the match you're dealt 3 random mutation cards from a pool of 44. You keep one, the CPU takes one of the same three, and both stay on for the whole match. So every match is a different rule fight.

A few cards from the pool

• Doubles Engine (legendary): you play your doubles five times instead of four.
• Shatter Blot: when you hit a blot, the opponent blot right in front of it goes to the bar too.
• Mirror Reflex: when your blot gets hit, the checker that hit it goes to the bar as well.
• Home Security: your opponent can't bear off while they leave a blot in their home board.
• Black Ice: one point is frozen, and any opponent checker that stops there is sent to the bar.

This page runs the 1v1 Quick Match. No sign-up, mouse or touch (click a checker, then click where it goes). The game starts in your browser's language if it's one of the six it speaks (English, Turkish, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic), and you can switch in the menu.

Run Mode (in the app)

The phone app adds Run Mode, where the cards turn into a deck. You start a run with one card and win a new one from every boss you beat, climbing 44 stages over 7 acts. You choose which cards to bring into each stage, and the chips you earn open up to 3 card slots or buy a die reroll mid-match. Each act ends with a Protocol Boss that has no deck and forces its own rule on the match instead. The final boss, Omega Core, runs every protocol you've beaten and switches to a new one every 3 turns.

Runs come in two modes:

• Roguelite: one loss sends you back to stage 1, but every card you've won stays in your deck, and each stage pays double chips. Your best stage is tracked.
• Campaign: a loss means replaying the stage, but a boss that beats you by a gammon captures the card you brought until you beat it.

App Store · Google Play · appsbybaa.com/roguegammon

Did any card feel unfair, or did the CPU play something dumb? Tell me in the comments.