New! Travel Backgammon Handmade from Leather and Wood

Announcing a new game design from Walnut Studiolo! Our travel-sized version of Backgammon is lightweight and small, handcrafted from American materials and bench-made in Oregon. It includes all the game pieces in one neat magnet-secure package: dice, doubling cube, and secure pegs for travel checkers.

A travel backgammon board with shiny accessories, bright marbleized gold and gray dice and brass and black peg game pieces, is on a table and catching the sunlight in a natural outdoor setting

Our Travel Backgammon Board comes with two different styles of kit: shown here with upgraded cribbage pegs and marbleized resin dice. Photo credit: Trav Williams, Broken Banjo Photography

A travel backgammon board set up on a weathered wood picnic table, ready to play for two people and a scorecard with a pen for scale.

Our Travel Backgammon Board comes with two different styles of kit: shown here are the natural, ultralight nails and wood dice. Photo credit: Trav Williams, Broken Banjo Photography

Back Story

Customers have been asking for our travel version of backgammon, but first, we needed to learn how to play! It took over a year of playing together at lunch before we felt like we understood it well enough to design it.

We're so glad we learned! We get it: this game is perfect for two people who play together all the time (like us!). It's the right mix of luck and skill, and the doubling cube keeps it interesting! (The doubling cube is a relatively-recent American introduction to a 5,000+ year old game with roots in ancient Mesopotamia.)

While we replaced our daily cribbage game at lunch for backgammon, we went through several prototypes of our travel backgammon design. The more we played, the more our board design improved.

For seasoned backgammon players, our travel board design makes a truly compact, lightweight, yet functional set on-the-go. It's great for lighter travelers, or for spontaneous games when stashed in a purse, bike bag, or glovebox. It even fits in your pocket! Our durable natural materials mean you can take it to the beach or the park.

The inside of a folding leather travel cribbage board, showing the leather is undyed on the inside and all the pieces and parts fit inside, and it is closed by four magnets in the corners

All the game pieces and parts of the Travel Backgammon Board fit neatly inside: dice, game pieces in slider tins for storage and bearing off, doubling cube, scorecard. Photo credit: Trav Williams, Broken Banjo Photography

A folding leather backgammon board, shown close-up closed and secure with magnets

The folding leather backgammon board snaps securely closed with the four neodymium magnets inset into the four corners of the wood. Photo credit: Trav Williams, Broken Banjo Photography

Backgammon for Newbies

But for those new to backgammon: you came to the right place! The more we played this game, the more we wanted to make this game accessible and easy to learn for people like us who didn't grow up in a backgammon family.

We added helpful prompts into the board design, like directional arrows, and (A) and (B) player set-up cues in the gutters. We then wrote basic, simplified, illustrated rules of play for beginners.

Very close-up image of the leather travel backgammon board with a white circle and arrow pointing out a detail, the text 2(A) next to a triangle that has 2 black game pieces in it, showing how to set-up the board and where to put the checkers

We designed helpful prompts and cues into the board to help players (A) and (B) set-up their game pieces in the right places and direction of play for bearing off. Photo credit: Trav Williams, Broken Banjo Photography

A hand-drawn graphic of a backgammon board illustrating the rules of play with directional arrows and two different colors for the different players pieces and move options

We wrote simplified rules for backgammon for new players like us to help others learn this great game! Our rules include hand-drawn illustrations like this one. Image credit: Walnut Studiolo

Features of Our Travel Backgammon Board

We played and prototyped many versions for months before finalizing. We think the new design ticks all the boxes:

Quality, natural materials handmade in USA
Folding design for a small-yet-stable board game experience
Self-contained storage for all game pieces and parts: dice, game pieces with storage, and doubling cube. (Fold your own paper dice cup with simple classroom origami!)
A quick start guide with a scorecard. Print more scorecards for free on our website. (For keeping score, we found that a sharpened-down golf pencil will fit inside, too!)
Lightweight and pocket-sized for travel
Pegging instead of checkers for game pieces stay secure during movement. (Pegs fit down to the hilt and the board can be carried mid-game without losing your place!)
Stays closed with durable magnets
Choices of kit for dice and game piece
Replacement and spare parts and game pieces for sale: Extra Game Pieces for Travel Backgammon >>>
All of this weighs as little as 2.6 oz!

A man and a woman playing travel backgammon outdoors at a cafe holding beers and smiling at each other

Take backgammon with you to the cafe, while you're waiting for your food or table at the restaurant, the park, or the beach! Photo credit: Trav Williams, Broken Banjo Photography

It's perfect for backgammon on the go and gifts for backgammon lovers. Keep one in your car glovebox, purse, or bike bag!

We can't wait to hear what you think of the new design! We welcome your feedback at walnutstudiolo [at] gmail [dot] com.

Shop Travel Backgammon