Key features

• Quick sign-in: players enter a username, no password needed, and get a session token that is remembered by the browser.
• Lobby: create a new game, see the games waiting for an opponent and join one, or resume your active games.
• Live game: the board refreshes automatically every few seconds, so each player sees the opponent’s moves almost immediately, and it is always shown from the current player’s point of view.
• Dice & moves: dice are rolled on the server (doubles give four moves), and the game lists all valid moves so the player can pick one with a click or type the points.
• Game history: every roll, move and pin is recorded and shown in a game log.

The rules of Plakoto, enforced by the server

Each player starts with 15 checkers and moves them around the board in opposite directions. Landing on a single opponent checker “pins” it, and the pinned checker cannot move until it is released. A point with two or more opponent checkers is blocked. Once all your checkers are in the last quarter of the board you can start bearing them off, and the first player to bear off all 15 wins. The PHP game engine checks every one of these rules before a move is accepted, decides who plays first with an opening roll, ends the turn automatically when no moves are left and declares the winner.