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Game Instructions & Description
How to Play Checkers
Play checkers online for free against the computer or a friend in this version of the classic board game made by the CrazyArcade team. It uses American rules on an 8 by 8 board. Each side starts with 12 pieces on the dark squares, and Dark moves first. Ordinary pieces move one square diagonally forward. You capture by jumping over an enemy piece to the empty square behind it, and captures are mandatory. If your piece can keep jumping, it must, so one turn can take several pieces. When a piece reaches the far row it is crowned a king and can move and capture both forward and backward. A piece that is crowned during a jump stops there for that turn. You win when your opponent has no pieces left or no legal move on their turn. If 40 moves pass for each side with no capture and no crowning, the game is a draw. You can play the computer on Easy, Medium or Hard, or play 2 Players on the same device. Easy sometimes plays a random move, Medium looks four moves ahead, and Hard searches as deep as it can in about a second. The game shows which pieces must capture, marks every legal square for the selected piece, and walks you through multi-jumps one hop at a time. Counters show how many pieces each side has taken, Undo takes back your last move, and wins against each computer level are saved on your device.
Controls & Interaction
Mouse / Tap: select a piece, then a highlighted square Drag: drag a piece onto a highlighted square Arrow keys / WASD: move the square cursor Enter / Space: select a piece or move to the cursor square Esc: drop the selected piece U: undo your last move N: start a new game
Pro Tips to Win
- Keep the pieces on your back row at home as long as you can. While they stay there, the computer cannot crown a king.
- Because captures are mandatory, you can offer one piece on purpose to pull an enemy piece into a spot where you jump two or more back.
- Once you have more pieces, trade one for one. Fewer pieces on the board make it easier to corner the computer's last kings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I have to capture when I can?
A: Yes. If any of your pieces can jump, you must make a capture, and the pieces that can capture glow. You may choose which capture to make, but once you start jumping you must keep going until no more jumps are possible.
Q: Can I take back a move?
A: Yes. Press Undo or U. Against the computer it takes back both the computer's reply and your last move. In 2 Players mode it takes back one move at a time. After you beat the computer the win is saved, so Undo is not offered on that screen.
