Early variants of backgammon have been found from thousands of years ago. Paintings show Romans playing a forerunner of backgammon and the game is mentioned in famous literature.
This two player game uses a board with 24 points (long triangles of alternating colors). The first player to get all 15 of his checkers off of the board wins. Players move their checkers using the results of rolling two dice. The player’s routing for their checkers is the opposite direction from their opponent’s so there is a series of natural collisions or roadblocks.
If a player has two or more checkers on a point then they are safe. However a lone checker (blot) is subject to being landed upon by an opponent’s checker and sent to the middle bar. It can only return by being rolled back onto the board.
The Good: Fun strategy game. Also most boards fold up for easy travel.
The Bad: Blot. Blot. Blot.
The Dastardly: In a single game...lucky rolls play a huge role