Hardwood Backgammon
Added January 31st, 2006 by Kisan Parikh
Hardwood Backgammon, the video game version of the classic two-player dice and checkers game, is one of three games in the Hardwood Xbox Live Arcade series. The game offers everything that traditional backgammon does. It is pretty cut and dry, with little variation.
For those who are unfamiliar with the game, the object of backgammon is to bring all of your pieces onto your home board (your corner) and “bear them off” or take them off the board). You roll two die, and the numbers you roll will determine your moves. You move two pieces on every turn, because the number on each dice determines the number of points to move. The concept is fairly simple to pick up, but you will probably need some instruction. This is where Harwood Backgammon’s tutorials come in handy. The reasonably short tutorials go through almost everything you need to know as far as how to play. They leave it to the gamer to develop strategies for themselves.
For those who are unfamiliar with the game, the object of backgammon is to bring all of your pieces onto your home board (your corner) and “bear them off” or take them off the board). You roll two die, and the numbers you roll will determine your moves. You move two pieces on every turn, because the number on each dice determines the number of points to move. The concept is fairly simple to pick up, but you will probably need some instruction. This is where Harwood Backgammon’s tutorials come in handy. The reasonably short tutorials go through almost everything you need to know as far as how to play. They leave it to the gamer to develop strategies for themselves.
The game translates well from the board to the TV due to the well done control scheme. All of the movement is dependant on your thumbstick to scroll through pieces and the A button to select. The game only highlights pieces that are eligible to move, so rookies won’t have to keep guessing about what moves are allowed.
Hardwood Backgammon is a very straightforward game with really nothing extra. Your game customization options are very limited, and you won’t find any variations to standard Backgammon. You are only allowed to change the amount of points to win, AI difficulty, and toggling the “Doubling Cube”. The game offers a multiplayer mode both offline and online. You can choose to be matched up with gamers of similar skill or you can also play with people on your friends list. The multiplayer aspects have the ability to be fun, but chances are you can find more exciting things to do on Xbox Live.
Hardwood Backgammon functions perfectly, but the limited features don’t just apply to gameplay features. Visuals are pretty boring; a bland and generic board is presented and that is all. Also, the soundtrack is incredibly repetitive, and you will definitely want to use your own soundtracks if you decide to purchase this game.
Summary:
The Xbox 360 version of Backgammon is as basic as games get. Gamers are presented with one thing: Backgammon. No exciting new twists on the standard game, no fancy boards, nothing besides the ordinary. That’s not to say that Hardwood Backgammon is a bad game, because it functions quite well. Those who truly enjoy backgammon or want to try it for the first time may be interested in this game because of the low price (400 MS Points), but anyone else should use their MS Points elsewhere.
Hardwood Backgammon is a very straightforward game with really nothing extra. Your game customization options are very limited, and you won’t find any variations to standard Backgammon. You are only allowed to change the amount of points to win, AI difficulty, and toggling the “Doubling Cube”. The game offers a multiplayer mode both offline and online. You can choose to be matched up with gamers of similar skill or you can also play with people on your friends list. The multiplayer aspects have the ability to be fun, but chances are you can find more exciting things to do on Xbox Live.
Hardwood Backgammon functions perfectly, but the limited features don’t just apply to gameplay features. Visuals are pretty boring; a bland and generic board is presented and that is all. Also, the soundtrack is incredibly repetitive, and you will definitely want to use your own soundtracks if you decide to purchase this game.
Summary:
The Xbox 360 version of Backgammon is as basic as games get. Gamers are presented with one thing: Backgammon. No exciting new twists on the standard game, no fancy boards, nothing besides the ordinary. That’s not to say that Hardwood Backgammon is a bad game, because it functions quite well. Those who truly enjoy backgammon or want to try it for the first time may be interested in this game because of the low price (400 MS Points), but anyone else should use their MS Points elsewhere.
