Board games, playable in your browser

Board games are older than every other kind of game on this site by a few thousand years, and they ask the least of a computer: a grid, some pieces, and an opponent. That last part is where the work is. Every game on this page comes with a computer player you can turn up or down, from one that is happy to lose to one that won't.

None of them run in an emulator. They are ordinary web pages — most of them written from the rules for this site, with chess built on the same open-source engine and board that the biggest chess sites use — so they load instantly and play the same on a phone as on a desktop.

Where to start

Chess — Start at level 3 if you play casually. Level 8 is full-strength Stockfish and will not make the mistake you're hoping for.
Chess puzzles — Real positions from real games, chosen to match your rating as it moves. Five minutes of these does more for your chess than an hour of blitz.
Mahjong Solitaire — The tile-matching patience game, on four layouts. Every deal is winnable, so a stuck board means a choice you can undo.
Backgammon — The full game with hits, the bar and gammons. The computer won't cheat on the dice, however much it feels like it.
Checkers — American rules, forced captures included. Hard looks seven moves ahead and follows every capture chain to the end.

Where the opponents come from

The chess opponent is Stockfish 19, the strongest open-source engine, compiled to WebAssembly and deliberately weakened at the lower levels. Checkers, Reversi and Four in a Row use a classic look-ahead search written for this site; the Level menu sets how many moves ahead it looks. Backgammon scores every way to play its roll and picks the best by racing distance, safety of its checkers and the points it holds. Mahjong Solitaire has no opponent, but its deals are generated so that every one can be cleared.

Your game is kept, nothing is uploaded

There's no account and no server-side state. A game in progress is saved in your own browser and comes back when you reopen the page; the chess-puzzle rating lives there too. You can see or clear all of it on the saves page.

Other categories: Classic shooters · Side-scrolling platformers · The Windows desktop classics · Card games · Logic puzzles · Board games · every game and guide

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to sign up or download anything?

No. Every game here opens in the page and plays straight away — no account, no install, no plugin.

Can I play against another person?

Not yet. Every game on this page is one player against the computer, with levels to choose from.

Do they work on a phone?

Yes. The boards resize to the screen and everything is played by tapping. Mahjong's larger layouts are easiest in landscape.