1985 · Board game
Draughts
Strategy board game
- Released
- 31 December 1985
- Platforms
- MSXZX Spectrum
- Genres
- Board game
- Developers
- —
- Publishers
- Magnetic Magazines
- Modes
- MultiplayerSingle-player
- Perspective
- Bird view / Isometric
- Themes
- Non-fiction
- Languages
- English
About
Checkers (North American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers is developed from alquerque. The term "checkers" derives from the checkered board which the game is played on, whereas "draughts" derives from the verb "to draw" or "to move".
The most popular forms of checkers in Anglophone countries are American checkers (also called English draughts), which is played on an 8×8 checkerboard; Russian draughts, Turkish draughts and Armenian draughts, all of them on an 8×8 board; and international draughts, played on a 10×10 board – with the last widely played in many countries worldwide. There are many other variants played on 8×8 boards. Canadian checkers and Malaysian/Singaporean checkers (also locally known as dam) are played on a 12×12 board.
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Development
The ancestry of checkers / draughts remains shrouded in uncertainty. Popular accounts frequently trace the game back thousands of years to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, though such claims warrant careful examination. Archaeological discoveries in Ur, an ancient Mesopotamian city in present-day Iraq, have yielded game boards dating to approximately 3000 BCE. However, characterizing these as early checkers boards stretches credibility.
The Game of Ur employed seven markers per player and three tetrahedral dice, functioning as a race game more akin to modern backgammon than to checkers. The gameplay mechanics of these games bear little resemblance to the jumping and capturing that define draughts.
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Editions and related releases
- Included in
- 30 Games
Games like this

Jinsei Game
2009 · Port · Game Boy, Game Boy Advance +4
Board game
Nintendo exclusiveClubhouse Games Express: Family Favorites
2009 · Port · Nintendo DS
Board game
Nintendo exclusiveFamily Card Games
2009 · Wii
Board game
Nintendo exclusiveMonopoly
1999 · Nintendo 64
Board game
Atari exclusiveCheckers
1985 · Atari 2600, Bally Astrocade
Board game
Nintendo exclusiveTouch Solitaire
2009 · Nintendo DS
Board game
Nintendo exclusiveWinnie the Pooh: Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood
2000 · Game Boy Color
Board game
Xbox exclusive70Soltrio Solitaire
2007 · Xbox 360
Board game
Collections1 collection
Platform libraries
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
