MacGammon! — backgammon from the Macintosh's first year Runs here
1984 · Thomas C. Hoffman and Steven W. Slesinger / Videx · System 6 · Mini vMac (Mac Plus) · 512×342 black and white
Guide updated September 2026
Backgammon against the computer, copyright 1984, from a company better known for Apple II expansion cards. It opens on a title card with the authors' names and a START button, and behind that is a competent implementation of the game with the doubling cube intact.
There is not much more to say about it and that is rather the appeal. This is what a piece of Macintosh software looked like in the machine's first year: one job, done properly, in a window.
Boots to the title card. Click START to begin a game, or EXIT to return to the desktop.
Controls
| Mouse | Roll, and drag checkers to move them |
| Doubling cube | Click it to offer a double |
| Menus | New game, difficulty and display options |
Videx stopped publishing software long ago and the named authors have not offered the program since. It has not been sold in about forty years.
Archives
- Internet Archive — the Macintosh floppy this copy was made from.
How it works & what to expect
| Machine | Macintosh Plus, 512×342, black and white |
|---|---|
| System | The floppy's own — this disk carries the System it shipped with |
| Emulator | Mini vMac, compiled to WebAssembly |
| Saves | Inside the emulated Mac, in your browser |
The opponent is a 1984 backgammon engine, which means it plays a reasonable positional game and is weak on the doubling cube. Anyone who plays backgammon seriously will beat it; anyone who does not will have a real game.
Dice are generated by the program, which was the usual and occasionally contentious arrangement in early computer backgammon. There is nothing in the code doing anything clever with them.
Why it is remembered
It is from 1984. Software dated to the Macintosh's first calendar year is a small and thinning set, and most of what survives is Apple's own. A third-party game from that window is worth having for that reason alone.
Videx were a hardware company. The Videoterm 80-column card was in an enormous number of Apple IIs; their brief run of Macintosh software is a footnote that has almost entirely disappeared.
Backgammon suits the mouse. Dragging checkers around a board was exactly the sort of thing the Macintosh was supposed to make obvious, and this is an early, clean demonstration of it.
Getting started
Click START. There is no configuration to do first.
Use the doubling cube against it. The engine handles doubles poorly, and offering one in a position it misjudges is the quickest way to find the edges of its play.
If you have not played backgammon: get your checkers home before your opponent gets theirs home, do not leave single checkers where they can be hit, and the rest will make sense within a game or two.
Questions people ask
How strong is the opponent?
Reasonable for 1984 and weak on the doubling cube. A serious backgammon player will beat it comfortably.
Is the doubling cube included?
Yes, and using it is the best way to exploit the engine's judgement.
Can two people play?
The computer opponent is the main mode; the menus carry the options the 1984 release shipped with.
Can I save?
Games persist inside the emulated Macintosh in your browser.
How old is it?
Copyright 1984 — the Macintosh's first year, which makes it one of the oldest things on this site.
Who wrote it?
Thomas C. Hoffman and Steven W. Slesinger, published by Videx.
Put MacGammon! on your own site
Free, no permission needed and no account. Paste this where you want the machine to appear; it brings its own emulator and asks nothing of your page.
<iframe src="https://macemu.com/embed/macgammon/"
width="512" height="342"
style="border:0;max-width:100%"
allowfullscreen
title="MacGammon!"></iframe>Sized to this title's real screen. How embedding works.
