Checkers by the book: American draughts with the full rules enforced, including the one casual players skip. If a capture is available, you must take it.
Nothing listed in the connect popup: the calculator has to be plugged in and switched on to appear. Wake it up, check the USB cable (charge-only cables won't work), or move to a different port. Close any other tab that's using the calculator.
Have a TI-84 Plus CE? Get Checkers for the CE.
By CalcPlex.
Controls
- Arrows move the cursor around the board.
- ENTER on one of your pieces selects it and marks the squares it can move to. ENTER on a marked square makes the move. ENTER on a different piece switches the selection.
- When a capture is available you can only select a piece that can jump. In a multi-jump, keep pressing ENTER on the next marked square until the jump is finished.
- CLEAR with a piece selected drops the selection. With nothing selected it goes back to the title screen, and pressing it there quits. (It does nothing in the middle of a multi-jump.)
- On the title screen, the left and right arrows switch between 1 PLAYER, 2 PLAYERS and HOW TO PLAY, the up and down arrows change the CPU level (EASY, MEDIUM, HARD) in 1 player mode, and ENTER confirms.
- After a game, ENTER plays again, the left or right arrow goes back to the menu, and CLEAR goes to the title screen.
The rules it holds you to
- Men move and capture diagonally forward only; kings go both ways, one square at a time (no flying kings).
- Captures are mandatory, and a multi-jump must be finished once started.
- Reaching the far row crowns your piece and ends that jump, per the English rule.
- A long stretch with no captures or man moves is scored a draw, as in tournament play.
Playing with forced captures is a different, sharper game: sacrifices become weapons, because your opponent can't decline them.
Opponents
The 1-player AI comes in three strengths: EASY slips up often enough for a beginner to win, MEDIUM now and then, and HARD never does. Pick mode and level on the title screen with the arrows, or choose 2-player and pass the calculator. You play red and the board highlights whose move it is, flagging JUMP! when a capture is forced.