How to play checkers — Crownfall guide

Crownfall is a free browser checkers game with a genuine computer opponent. This guide covers the standard English-draughts rules it uses, a handful of tips that will win you more games, and a plain-language note on how the AI actually thinks.

What is Crownfall?

Crownfall is checkers — the classic two-player board game also known as English draughts or American checkers — played against a real artificial-intelligence opponent right in your browser. There is no sign-up, no download, and nothing to install: you pick a difficulty and play. A pass-and-play mode lets two people share one device. Everything runs on your own phone or computer, and your stats stay there too.

The name and all of the artwork — the board, the pieces, the crown — are our own original design. Crownfall is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any board-game publisher; only the public-domain rules of checkers are shared.

The board and setup

Checkers is played on an 8×8 board, but only the 32 dark squares are ever used. Each side starts with 12 men on the three rows of dark squares nearest them. You play the light ceramic pieces at the bottom and move up the board; Crownfall plays the dark pieces at the top and moves down. You always move first.

How to move and capture

• Ordinary moves: a man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. Tap a piece to see its legal destinations highlighted, then tap where you want it to go.
• Captures: if an enemy piece sits diagonally in front of you with an empty square just beyond, you jump over it and remove it. Men capture forward only.
• Captures are mandatory: if any capture is available, you must take one — a quiet move is not allowed that turn. Crownfall marks the pieces that are forced to move so you are never left wondering why a move was refused.
• Multi-jumps: after a jump, if the same piece can jump again it must keep going, chaining several captures into a single turn. You are free to choose any legal chain — there is no rule forcing you to take the longest one.
• Kinging: land a man on the far row and it is crowned a king (that is the moment the crown drops). Kings move and capture diagonally in all four directions, one square at a time. Reaching the king row ends your move, even mid-jump.

How to win

You win when your opponent has no legal move left — either because all their pieces are captured or because every piece they own is blocked. Games with no progress for 40 moves per side, or a position that repeats three times, are declared a draw.

Six tips to win more games

• Hold your back row. The two guard squares on your own back rank stop the enemy from crowning easily. Give them up last.
• Control the centre. Central men have more squares to advance to and are harder to trap on an edge.
• Count the trade before you jump. Because captures are forced, a clever player offers a piece to win two back. Look one move past the capture.
• Use the edges as shelter. A piece on the side file can only be captured from one direction — handy when you are defending.
• Race for kings. A king is worth far more than a man; when material is even, the side that crowns first usually wins.
• Keep your men connected. Supported pieces can recapture; a lone man wandering forward is easy to pick off.

How the Crownfall AI works

The opponent is a real search engine, not a random move-picker. It uses minimax with alpha-beta pruning: it looks ahead through the tree of possible moves, assumes you will play your best reply, and chooses the line that leaves it best off. Its judgement of a position weighs material, how advanced each man is, back-row safety, centre control and king mobility.

Difficulty is simply how far ahead it looks. Easy searches only a few moves deep, so it plays honestly but shallowly. Medium is a solid club-casual player. Hard searches much deeper and will punish loose moves. Expert goes deeper still and thinks a beat longer — it seldom hands you anything, so you have to earn the win. Checkers was famously “solved” by researchers whose program (Chinook) proved perfect play is a draw — Crownfall does not aim for that, just for a strong, fair, fast opponent.

Frequently asked questions

• Is it free? Yes — completely free to play, supported by ads.
• Do I need an account? No. There is no sign-up and no login; nothing to create.
• Does it work on my phone? Yes. It is built mobile-first and works by tap on touch screens and by mouse or keyboard on a computer.
• Are my stats saved? Your streaks and records are stored locally in your own browser. Clearing your browser data resets them; nothing is uploaded.
• Can two people play? Yes — choose “Pass & play” to share one device.
• What are the differences from international draughts? Crownfall uses the 8×8 English/American ruleset: men capture forward only and kings move one square (no flying kings). The 10×10 international game is a different variant we do not include.