This is a great giveaway. Thanks a ton!

Downloaded/installed fine on Vista 64-bit. No malware ;)

It was okay until the AI player jumped backwards and got me. I turned it off then and uninstalled since the game is nothing really special.

It looks nice, I like the board skins. The pieces could be a little better, but the ones available look all right.

How to get started wasn't apparent right away. I think all the options on both the left and the right side need to be different or arranged better. Everything is so small and not in a good order.

I didn't like how slowly the pieces moved after grabbing and moving them, it seemed to take a second to register it. And the pause after it moved, with the sound effect, I don't know what that was.


.................................Moderator Comment.........................

Thanks for your feedback. I agree Amanda, being able to move back before you get your pieces to the other sides home isn't the way i remember playing the game. It just makes the game too easy.

In the description it says;
The program is available for $6.99, but it will be free for our visitors as a time-limited offer.

Nowhere on the web to buy this program.


..............................Moderator comment..........................

I don't know what's happened to Fly's wen site. I think they may be updating it, but then its been offline for quite some time?????

oups i forget say i vote thumbs positifs for this good games,

i also forget say where is Ashraf ? (i don't see her comment)

cordially sacha


.................................Moderator Comment.............................


Ashraf doesn't contibute to the game giveaway side of the project. Ashraf only posts details of applications, usually to draw users to his/her site. :)

hello Whiterabbit aka Stephen
your link for game top is break

the link is http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/checkers/
or for direct download.
http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/checkers/download.html

thanks for your other link and especially for rule in jimloy and usacheckers.

Great thanks for GAOTD and and FlyGame for this re-up (the first time a lost checker and rubicon download)
if now i see checker maybe tomorrow i see rubicon, i hope.


............................Moderator comment...........................


Thanks for the head up re the broken link.

Game seems fine and my antviruss rates it ok! But I note antivirus programs continuely update! Software ok now can be rated harmfull in future! Had mutiple incidents of good software and games being inactvated by an update of my antivirus program! My tip to you dudes is make a copy and store it in external hard drive! If your antivirus later wants to deactvate your software you can run it from external, but 1st turn off antivirus program! Thanks gotd and Fly games!! Happy almost new year!

Downloaded fine on xp3, runs a little slow, full screen on 20inch monitor. Computer beat me on first run but that is normal for my game play in checkers oh well back to the drawing board. thank you giveaway and fly games.

Game works okay! My antivirus doesn't se any trojen's! But the funny thing aabout antivirius programs - I have had software downloaded that my software says is safe!

I haven't downloaded, but I'm assuming those who want to play American checkers, known in England as draughts, need to select the English rules. From the description the other rules - probably the Russian - a quick look at Wikipedia shows that they seem to be based on the 10x10 board game, Polish draughts or checkers, which is widely played internationally. English draughts seem to be mostly limited to Britain, South Africa, and America, from what I can ascertain. Apparently, there's more than one variant, all derived from the ancient 5x5 Arabic game, quirkat, known in the West as Alquerque.

In other words, folks, don't panic, just change rule set. "When in doubt, read the instructions." Actually, since 3 rule sets, is sort of 3 games in one.




..........................Moderator comment........................




Thanks for the info Watcher. :)

AVG tested it virus-free.

How do you play checkers?
I have never played it.
I only know how to play chess.
I remember sitting on some phone books on a chair to be high enough to see the board.


..........................Moderator comment........................


Hi markey marcus

If you can play chess you'll have no problems playing checkers. check out the links I've provided near the end of my review. Links to various rule sets. :)

Checkers... :) simple, fun, cool. Thanks.

Hi WR & team,

While installing this game on my laptop which has Avira AV it gave me this WARNING ... 'TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen8' was found in file 'C:\Games\FlyGames_Checkers\skin\check3d.dll'.

I tried running VirusTotal online on this File "Check3d.dll" but obiviously since the file can NOT be opened it would not load up ...

Anyway, since I don't really need a Checkers game that badly I am uninstalling this one ...

I am surprised that noone else has reported this TROJAN Alert.

Q: BTW, can I just Delete this one .DLL file and would the game still work!?!? Just Curious!

Thanks!


.......................Moderator Comment..................

Hello G,

Please read the comment i've made at the beginning of my short review. As for deleting the dll file. It's for the skins i believe, so it ay be okay to do so. Maybe spme of the functinality may be reduced, but the game may still work. That said, I believe the alert is a false positive. Still, there are other checkers games that you can find online for free. check out Gametop or Freegamepick for free versions. :)

I used to think I was pretty bad at checkers. Thanks GOTD for proving that I'm far worse than I thought :) AI mode has won every game.
This will be a tool I can use to practice with, just stay off the expert mode!
It did lock up on me several times already. Saving the game and starting over allowed me to move on. Still worth the price of Free.

Disappointing, opponents checkers can jump backwards without being kinged. Major flaw.

I haven't had the issue with not being forced to jump when the opportunity arises, so I can't comment on that, but depending on which rules you play, you can jump forward or backward.
I had one issue with the game, and that is at one point in the game, it refused to allow me to move at all. I had to save the game, exit, open the game, and then it allowed me to move. Odd glitch, but annoying just the same.

Well, add my voice to two groups: one that really likes the presentation of this game, and add me also to the group that says where in the world did they get these rules? An uncrowned piece can ONLY move towards the opponents. It can never go backwards, period. That is the only way AMERICAN checkers is played. In 60 years of play, I have never once encountered that rule, and I clearly remember having my hand slapped by Gramma the first time I tried that - but Gramma! "No, only forward until you reach the other side." THAT is the whole point of crowning, yes?
It would be nice if this offered other variations like fox and hounds, and one where they are all crowned; these two variations are my favorites.
Very nicely done, a keeper, and thank you and holidays best wishes to all.

@Fubar

Thanks for this nice little gift. :-)

So sorry...
This game seemed attractive but Dear Avira writes me : "Virus or unwanted program 'TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen8 [trojan]' detected in file 'C:\Games\FlyGames_Checkers\skin\check3d.dll.
Action performed: Deny access
So I believe my good old friend Avira and wont take any risk today.
Thanks anyway.
BTW, and to try staying constructive, I think I'm not the only one that would very appreciate programmers foresee the replacement of english files by local files. Maybe I'm mistaking so please forgive me, but for me English is not still the only language in the world. Even if they cant translate themselves their files, there would be a simple way to do it for so many other members of THE community, like it works for Open Softs.

Happy new year for all.


.........................Moderator Comment.........................

Hi Jean, Threre has never been a malware infected game given away from this site since it started back in December 2006 (nor from the main giveaway site which started back in Oct 2006). Wheras Avira and other anti malware packages pick up false positives on a daily basis. As always its the member that chooses whether they be right or wrong. :)

Nice game for a diversion.Could use a few more skins (or a download link for skins) even though the ones it has are well done.A PLUS,IMO,is the ability to play your own music-way to go FLY-sadly lacking in most games less than $50.00 but very welcomed by gamers. Good graphics,good AI, a keeper for anyone that likes a quick diversion. Thanks GGOTD & FLY,well done.




..........................Moderator Comment..........................



Thanks for your feedback Bobby

I don't know what rules this game follows, but it's none that I've ever run across.

That is the rules by the way, you must jump if you can, thats the whole point, to try and trap your opponent by making them jump, so you can then jump 3 or 4 of there pieces.

"It doesn’t play the rules that I play by; that is, not having to take a piece if the opportunity arose. In this version of the game you have to make a move if the opponent places a piece in a position where it can be taken. There’s no way around it as far as I was able to ascertain. Which in my opinion is a downer on this game."




..........................Moderator Comment..........................


Hi Day, yes you may be right w.r.t. one set of rules. I played a different set of rules. There are more than one set of rules for playing draughts/checkers.

I have a couple of nitpicks with today's giveaway. First, my screen resolution is 1920x1200, so the board looks tiny on my screen, and there doesn't seem to be an option to change it. My eyesight isn't what it used to be, so playing is a little difficult.

The other issue concerns gameplay, and the movement of the pieces. In all my years of playing checkers (draughts), the rules of play always stated that, unless "crowned", a piece could only move forward on the board, even if the opportunity to take an opponent's piece by moving backward presented itself. This game seems to break that rule by allowing uncrowned pieces to move in both directions when taking pieces, which makes "crowning" almost unnecessary.


.............................Moderator Comment........................

Hi Mcbarker,

Have you tried one of the other rule sets. There are three different ones Englih Russian and Givaway rules. Unfortunately I couldn't get a copy of the game before the giveaway started, so my review was more like an overview of the game. I've not checked any of the rulesets (for which I apologise) The Christmas New Year period is alays a busy time for us here, so I don't have my usual time to check the games over. The inability to change the screen resolution via the game is a definite downer as I also have the same screen res as you. That said you can change the resoluton of the screen manually to increase the size of the board. It does mean you have to mah=nually change back once you've finished paying, ut it does work and is only a minor inconvinience, especially if you use one of those programs that rememners your shortcut layout.

Hi Whiterabbit,

About your comment "It doesn’t play the rules that I play by; that is, not having to take a piece if the opportunity arose. In this version of the game you have to make a move if the opponent places a piece in a position where it can be taken." --- I was brought up with the rules this game plays - if you didn't take the piece, your opponent just removed your piece that should have talen their piece - it was called the "huffing" rule.

Thanks for all your hard work though.
Pete




..........................Moderator Comment........................


Thanks for your feedback Pete. Yes, I remember the huffing rule. That said, I played a different set of rules (possibly made up by my parents lol)

Hey, whiterabbit-uk, I don't have time to evaluate today's offer. I wrote a checker-playing game when I was a comp sci student, to study game theory, but that was long before decent graphics. Today isn't a platformer, but I thought that you and your readers might be interested in this AI game experiment for both Android and PC (I also haven't had time to evaluate it, much more pressing things to work on):
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/12/artificial-intelligence-project-builds-a-puzzling-present/


..........................Moderator comment...............................

Thanks Fubar. :)

It looks like very similar to Grandmaster Chess, given away here some weeks ago.
Sp why no integrate Checkers-routine into Chess instead of offering a individual program?

Just a very basic review today.

A couple of users have reported a Trojan in this game, all using the same anti malware (Avira). As I've said many times before The giveaway team throughly check all game giveaways for malware using several different well known anti malware packages. The giveaway team stand to lose if they start allowing games to be given away with malware. This has been a trusted site by thousands for years now. I very much doubt that one anti malware suite picking up a Trojan is the real thing. I'd go as far as to say its a false positive.

That said, if you feel you don't trust the giveaway team after so many years of giving safe downloads that's entirely up to you.

I won't moderate any posts that post warnings about this false positve simply because it may put others off due to not being familiar with this sites policy on making sure all downloads are clear of malware.

This is the same game & version that was given away by Fly games nearly five years ago. No warnings were given then.


Checkers:

Installation:

Checkers downloads to a 23.1 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me, a security file (setup.gcd) and dual activation module, which for the newcomers to the game giveaway project means that once you've installed the game it automatically registers, that is, there's no registration code to input. The game installs to the following path:


C:\Games\FlyGames_Checkers

There is no shortcut installed so you'll have to follow the above path to create your own shortcut. To uninstall the game just delete the installed folder (there is no uninstaller).

The Game:

Chckers was originally given away back in May 2008 where it received a positive 48% of 351votes with 41 comments which can be read via the following link:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/easy-checkers/

Today’s game is a simple game of Checkers. There are three variations of the game to choose from, English, Russian and Giveaway. There’s no explanation as to the differences between the three. It doesn’t play the rules that I play by; that is, not having to take a piece if the opportunity arose. In this version of the game you have to make a move if the opponent places a piece in a position where it can be taken. There’s no way around it as far as I was able to ascertain. Which in my opinion is a downer on this game. There is a facility to reverse your last move if you wish and you can select from three difficulty settings. You'll also find several different board styles which you can play in 3D or 2D styles, there's also three different board piece styles to choose from

Conclusion:

Checkers from Fly games is a basic game of Checkers (or draughts if you live in the UK). I've scored the audio 7 because I think you can select your own music collection (Can't test it because I've deleted all my MP3's from this computer) and I've scored the overall game an 8 because it is a traditional board game.




Scoring


Gameplay – 8
Graphics – 8
Audio – 7
Re-playability – 9

Total = 8






Rules of Checkers\Draughts

The British version of draught\Checkerss:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_draughts


Checkers Wikipedia:
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers


The Basic Rules of Checkers:
http://www.jimloy.com/checkers/rules2.htm


Checkers Strategies:
http://www.checkers-strategy.com/


The Idiots Guide:
http://articles.directorygold.com/Article/The-Idiots-Guide-to-a-Killer-Checkers-Strategy/38052


The American Checkers Federation:
http://www.usacheckers.com/excerpt-oldbury.php

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Games, Games, and yet more Games plus Download, Installation & Game play Problemsl>:



If you have any problems installing or getting to work today's game please go HERE for help.


If you're looking for something other than today's game check the didimatic site via THIS link for some brilliant deals.

There are several other deals available from Steam as well as many more from Gamersgate, Gamestop, Greenman Gaming and GOG; all of which you can find via the Didimatic site, which I've linked to above (apart from Greenman gaming.

Steam's Christmas sale is on at the moment with prices slashed on hundreds of games.

The usual monthly free game from Alawars game box is still Finding Doggy. (You need to install the free Gamebox from Alawar to access the free games, which for newcomers change approximately every month). If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals.

Check out the Game discussion forums HERE for details of any Indie Game Bundles that are still live.


Alternatives:
If you miss today’s game or have a problem with it, here’s another version of the same game. I actually prefer this version of the game.

http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/checkers/download.html

Do be aware that gametop may add toolbars and home page hijacks to your web browser, but these can be avoided by un-checking the appropriate boxes during installation. Also when you close any of their games down, your browser is opened and directed to Gametops home page. This is innocuous so don’t worry. Closing the page ends any connection and nothing is downloaded.

or
Checkers v1.3:

http://download.cnet.com/Checkers/3000-18529_4-10029349.html?tag=mncol

or

Free Checkers Board Game for Windows v 7.30
http://download.cnet.com/100-Free-Checkers-Board-Game-Windows/3000-18522_4-10921821.html?tag=mncol
and heres one for a Pocket PC:

Checkers:
http://download.cnet.com/Checkers/3000-18516_4-10951039.html?tag=mncol


You can play online checkers via the following links:

http://www.flyordie.com/checkers/game.html

http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/checkers.shtml

http://www.crackerbarrel.com/games-kids.cfm?doc_id=41

Alternatives:

========================================================

A Request for helpl>:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

========================================================