This article contains everything you need to know about Arkadium’s Checkers Game.
Use the list below to navigate specific topics about Checkers.
Checkers is a great way to play the classic checkers board game against online opponents, the computer, or even a friend next to you.
How to play
This is the game's starting screen. You will have several different options.
- Matchmaking allows you to start a new game against an opponent right away without any sort of complication. Simply press it, and you'll arrive at a room to play Checkers against an online opponent.
- Vs Bot allows you to start a match against a computer opponent.
- New Room will create a brand new room, where you can await an opponent. This can be an online stranger should you decide to open your room's access, or should you like a private match, you can set one up with a friend.
- Local Play allows you to play the game of chess with someone next to you.
- Rooms. These are the public rooms already created by other players. You can see the player count on the side. You can join a room to play a match, or to watch two players play their own match.
- Sound options allows you to control the sound of the music and game actions to your liking.
If you're in need, take a refresher on the rules by clicking on the information button.
The below values represent your Game Level, Account Level and Shop Credit. While the credit buys items in the Shop, your game level and account level work differently.
Your game level increases as you play more games. Clicking on it will take you to the level rewards page, where you can claim rewards as you gain more levels.
Your account level will also increase as you play more games. The rewards will differ from those in the level menu. Be sure to increase both for massive points.
The game's Shop has a large number of things to purchase. From brand new pieces, to boards, to many others. Use earned credits to purchase these.
Matchmaking
By selecting Matchmaking, you will be matched with a human player from around the world. A small window will appear that notes the game is looking for an opponent for you. Once an opponent is found, you'll automatically enter the match.
Vs Bot
By selecting Vs Bot, you will open the bot menu. You will be placed with a computer opponent, called a "bot". You can pick out the bot's difficulty in the menu. Select Start Game to start. Choose between Public and Private on whether you want the match to be viewable by spectators.
The bot has a wide range of difficulty values to choose from, so that you can have fun on your own challenge level.
New Room
By selecting New Room, you'll be able to choose through a number of options to make your match to your liking. Selecting between Public or Private opens your room to other players or only to those of your liking. You can select "Bot Count" to choose the number of bots in the room.
By choosing between Presets and Advanced, you can choose whether you'd like the room to have particular match rules, or simply be the default. The presets for Checkers include several variation of rules from around the world, depending on what you like.
By choosing Advanced, you can pick between a few options. You can choose between a vast number of varied rules, from how many rows and columns the board has, how many rows have pieces, the maximum number of players, and other rule variations such as Force Take, Chain Take and others.
Selecting Save as Preset will save your preferences as an extra preset, so that you can choose it directly when creating a new room, to avoid having to set the rules each time. You'll be asked to name your preset if you choose to.
It will then be available from the Presets. You can delete it by pressing the trash can icon on the top right of it.
Local Play
When choosing Local Play, you'll have the same options to choose from as before, but you will not be creating a new online room. Instead, you'll be playing with a local opponent, someone next to you. Click Play to begin the match.
The game
When playing the game, you will see this screen. It's important to recognize all of the game's play elements, in order to have better control over your match.
- In this area, the player and the opponent are marked. You can see each player's piece color, as well as each one's display pictures.
- This is the board. Each player may, in their own turn, make a move. You'll see all of the player's moves on the board.
- In this area, the moves of each player are marked. You can see a history of moves made by each player. You can scroll through the list by using the lower buttons.
Each player may, in their own turn, move the pieces according to the rules. You achieve this by clicking on the piece, and clicking where it needs to go. In the below image, a piece was clicked at the beginning of the match. It may move to the spaces that are marked.
Each piece moves one tile diagonally. Your objective is to take all of your opponent’s pieces or to trap them so they run out of moves. You take an adjoining piece by jumping over it (diagonally) and landing on the empty space on the other side. If you make it all the way to the back row, your piece is now a “king,” meaning it can now move forward and backward.
Conquer all of your opponent's pieces to win the game!
Tips
Here is how to perform better at Checkers:
Strategic Thinking:
- Control the Center: Try to occupy and control the center of the board. This gives your pieces more mobility and options.
- Advance Together: Move your pieces in groups rather than individually. Lone pieces are easy targets.
- Force Trades When Ahead: If you're up in pieces, trade to simplify the board and increase your advantage.
Tactical Awareness:
- Look Ahead: Always think a few moves ahead. Consider your opponent’s possible responses before making a move.
- Avoid Traps: Be cautious of “bait” pieces that lure you into a double or triple jump.
- Use Forced Moves: Try to force your opponent into making bad moves by limiting their options.
King Strategy:
- Value Your Kings: Kings are powerful. Try to get your pieces to the back row safely and use kings to control the board.
- Don’t Rush to King: Sometimes it's better to delay crowning if it puts your piece in danger.
Scoring
The Checkers game has no scoring system. There is no way to save score in the Checkers game. This game is meant to be a fun board game experience to play online with a variety of people, without a specific scoring system or leaderboard. The game is incompatible with the regular competitive Arkadium leaderboards, and it's meant for simple fun matches.