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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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The verdict on

Checkers ・

40
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

Checkers by Optime Software is a free, basic checkers game that many users find enjoyable for casual play, but it is heavily criticized for an overwhelming number of intrusive ads, frequent crashes and freezing, and a poorly programmed AI that often leads to frustration R4R10R83.

4.5★ lifetime (59,025) Free to download since 2008 by Optime Software LLC updated 5.6 mo ago recent negative 18% 120 reviews across 4 regions
Ads Crashes & Freezing AI Difficulty Enjoyable Gameplay Online Play
5★194
4★70
3★24
2★13
1★49
recent reviews across 4 regions, vs the 4.5★ lifetime average

This free checkers app offers a straightforward game experience with options for one or two players, and online play. However, recent user reviews highlight significant issues with excessive and unavoidable advertisements, frequent app crashes, and an unchallenging or buggy AI opponent.

What users like

  • Provides a fun and relaxing checkers experience for casual play.R3R13R36R69
  • Offers both single-player (against AI) and two-player (local) modes, as well as network play.R29R37
  • Easy to understand and use, making it accessible for new players.R29R41

What users complain about

  • Excessive and intrusive ads frequently interrupt gameplay, often forcing users to watch long videos or opening web browsers.R2R4R10R15
  • The app frequently crashes or freezes, sometimes leading to loss of game progress or statistics.R4R38R89R109
  • The AI opponent is often criticized for being too easy, making illegal moves, or freezing when it's about to lose.R14R34R67R83
  • Online/network play is buggy, unreliable, or pairs users with the same opponent repeatedly.R8R44R76R175
  • The game's difficulty has regressed, becoming less challenging after updates.R11R16R140
  • Some users report issues with landscape mode on iPad or the game not keeping a running score.R47R303

Latest update · v3.30

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

• Significant bug fixes

Recurring themes

Ads negative
A pervasive issue, users are overwhelmed by the quantity and intrusiveness of ads, which often appear before or during gameplay, are long, unskippable, and sometimes redirect to external browsers. This significantly degrades the user experience, leading many to delete the app.R2R4R5R6
Crashes & Freezing negative
Despite developer notes claiming 'significant bug fixes,' many recent reviews report frequent app crashes and freezing, particularly when playing against the computer or attempting to win. This issue often results in lost progress and frustration.R4R27R38R46
AI Difficulty negative
The computer opponent is frequently described as either too easy, making the game boring, or exhibiting buggy behavior like making illegal moves (e.g., triple jumps), freezing when about to lose, or getting stuck in repetitive patterns to force a draw. This makes the single-player experience less enjoyable.R11R14R16R34
Online Play negative
Users report issues with online play, including checkers appearing on the wrong side of the board, games not working, glitches, inability to make moves, or being repeatedly paired with the same opponent.R8R26R44R64
Enjoyable Gameplay positive
Despite the issues, many users still find the core checkers game fun, relaxing, and a good way to pass time, especially for playing with friends or family.R3R7R13R18

Who it's for

This app is for casual players looking for a free, basic checkers game to play alone or with someone in person R29R37. It might appeal to those who don't mind frequent interruptions for ads or who are willing to overlook glitches for the sake of a simple game .

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew heavily negative, particularly regarding ads and technical issues, which contradicts the lifetime 4.5-star rating. This suggests a significant decline in user experience over time, possibly due to recent updates introducing more aggressive advertising and bugs. The developer's notes mention 'significant bug fixes,' but recent reviews indicate ongoing and new issues with crashes and freezing.

Frequently asked

Are there many ads in the Checkers app?
Yes, many users report an overwhelming number of intrusive ads that frequently interrupt gameplay, often forcing long waits or redirecting to web browsers, making the app almost unusable for some R4R10R15R24.
Does the Checkers app crash or freeze often?
Yes, recent reviews indicate that the app frequently crashes or freezes, especially when playing against the computer, which can lead to lost game progress and frustration R4R27R38R89.
Is the AI opponent challenging in Checkers?
Many users find the AI opponent to be either too easy or buggy, sometimes making illegal moves or freezing when it's about to lose, which reduces the challenge and enjoyment of single-player mode R14R34R67R83.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R3] 5/5 · US Checkers: I love checkers but sometimes it’s boring 🥱😴😴😴🤤
  2. [R13] 5/5 · US Yassssss: The best game for boredom.
  3. [R36] 5/5 · US Me Time: Helps me to enjoy my Me Time as the game keeps me relaxing. Thanks!, M.S.
  4. [R69] 5/5 · US GreatGame Site!: Relax. Have Fun. Feel Good. By Yourself.
  5. [R29] 5/5 · US Awesome game love it: I really love this game! So, the reason why I got this game was because my dad didn’t have enough time to play with me anymore, and the last few days, it’s all I’ve wanted to do . So when I found this, i instantly hopped on to use it and fugue it out. And it’s super easy. when you first get the game, You see 1 player,(to play with a robot) 2 player, (to play with yourself, an
  6. [R37] 5/5 · US How I like it is that you can do 1 player or 2: Thanks for making this game so much fun
  7. [R41] 5/5 · US I love it!: It is such a good game to play especially for starters you could pick the difficulty it’s just so fun
  8. [R2] 5/5 · US Hate the ads: The ads are horrible and annoying!
  9. [R4] 2/5 · US Decent app only crashes often: The app would’ve been great if only it didn’t crash so often and lose the statistics as it does so. But what’s even more aggravating is that every few seconds it launches the web browser without you clicking on any ads; it’s basically almost unusable because of that.
  10. [R10] 3/5 · US Long time user’s thoughts: I’ve played this game since my first iPod touch. It was so much fun to play with my friends and family but all of the sudden it only shows me ads. I can’t access the game at all. The ads never go away and there’s never an exit! I just updated today after a while of not playing and it’s just advertisement after advertisement! Y’all need to chill. It’s not like we *need* a
  11. [R15] 1/5 · US The ads are ridiculous: I used to love it but sitting through 5 minutes of ads just to play?? No thanks
  12. [R38] 1/5 · US Keeps freezing: Game keeps freezing!
  13. [R89] 1/5 · US Buggy: Program freezes up too often, but only when you’re killing the computer
  14. [R109] 1/5 · GB Checkers: A dull game which freezes when you wish to change format.
  15. [R14] 1/5 · US Bad: The a.I is not good, they don’t sacrifice or not take your piece,it isn’t realistic and has ads every time you close the app.do not recommend!
  16. [R34] 1/5 · US Terrible AI: Pretty sure those triple jumps aren’t legal…
  17. [R67] 1/5 · US It’s actually terrible: I downloaded this game to get better at checkers and at first I did the difficulty about half way but that was to hard so I made it a little less that was still to hard and then I went to the lowest level of difficultly and it was making triple jumps on me and was way to hard. It’s so bad I want give it a zero but that’s not possible so I give it one
  18. [R83] 1/5 · US Poorly Programmed AI!: When there are only two possible moves for the AI, it freezes and will not move or concede its impending loss. Bad Programming creates an AI which is a sore loser! You need to add an option to FORCE the AI to move! Why should I concede when I have won EVERY GAME!!! Your new display is terrible! Where are the options to keep the original display??????? You turned the simpl
  19. [R8] 3/5 · US Fun but: When I play online my checkers are on the wrong side of the board on my cell
  20. [R44] 1/5 · US Anyone else playing?: I feel like I play the same people all the time. And my god the ads.. Update.. yep… I got to network and it literally pairs me with the same player every time! We don’t want to play each other we both end the game . So annoying.. I guess to be paired with other players they want you to upgrade. Ugh done..
  21. [R76] 4/5 · US Online (network) play is bad: I just don’t work. If that’s what you want to do pick a different app!
  22. [R175] 3/5 · GB On line play: Good app for player vs computer, but glitchy on online play. E.g. I have an ongoing game, with a notification that its my go, but I cannot make my next move. There should be a status banner, stating who's go it is next?
  23. [R11] 1/5 · US What happened?: Was a fun game, challenging computer. Nothing as it was. Like playing a child. Get it together. You lost my views for your advertising clients.
  24. [R16] 4/5 · US Regressing: Last update dumbed down the game. No different than other checker apps now. Was challenging. Not anymore.
  25. [R140] 3/5 · GB Checkers: Good game, could be more challenging.
  26. [R47] 3/5 · US No iPad landscape mode?: Is it really just so impossible to make the app work with the iPad in landscape mode?
  27. [R303] 3/5 · AU Used to be better: Was better before the software update. It no longer keeps a running score; score between you & opponent always resets to 0:0. Very good game apart from this
  28. [R5] 1/5 · US Poor game: Mostly advertising other games Terrible
  29. [R6] 1/5 · US Like virus: Sometime recently, app now opens ads in safari, out of the blue. Worse yet, these ads are for phishing scheme sites. Been using for a year or two. Not anymore... click, delete.
  30. [R27] 3/5 · US App is great but needs improvement: The app is good and the game is nice. However when playing with the computer, and winning against the computer, the app gets stuck and then need to do a new game, means you cannot win against computer.
  31. [R46] 1/5 · US Freezing: I am so upset with the inventors of this game. I have emailed them 9 times to fix several issues. I have deleted it, reinstalled it several times and had done the option to do without the ads. They still wanted to purchase another ad option, I emailed them to let them know that I needed to be reimbursed for the refund of that cause it was only 2 days prior that the other ad option was pu
  32. [R26] 1/5 · US Tournament: I’m in a tournament right now, the top five teams all have identical scores of 2147.48 million. they are cheating. when they play each other they Challenge each other cancel their friend then go back-and-forth and raise their scores.The tournaments play can be fun with your teammates, but this is ridiculous. This glitch needs to be fixed.
  33. [R64] 1/5 · US No cap: I am not going to lie this is the worst if u want to play online or multiplayer.
  34. [R7] 5/5 · US Hi: I love it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  35. [R18] 5/5 · US Good game: Good game
  36. [R24] 1/5 · US Ads ad nauseam !!!!!!: Get a different app. If you have to leave this app for 1 sec, when you return to have to sit through the same ad over and over again … and it’s just not a 5 sec ad, it makes you wait at least 30 sec before being able to press the X and get on with your game.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store