Durham, North Carolina – Created by a retired research mathematics professor, Tactical Checkers is the only game of its kind on the App Store. It’s easy to learn, but contains considerable tactical and strategic complexity. The key concepts of double-attack and forcing moves that are key in games such as chess and checkers play a similar role in good Tactical Checkers play. The game is appropriate for kids and adults – ages 8

This two-player game consists of a 4 x 5 board divided into 20 squares. The players move in consecutive turns with the objective being to get three pieces of their color in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

The user can play another human or play the computer at any of four strength levels from Novice, Good, Strong, and Expert. The Novice level is not hard to beat, but gives the player some experience playing the game before moving to higher levels. At the Expert level the app is capable of finding forced wins six full moves ahead. It is possible to beat the expert level, but that requires considerable thought on the human’s part. Many players will find Expert virtually unbeatable.

The game is small and loads quickly. Game play is smooth, fluid, and nicely animated. All settings are preserved between sessions, and the user will resume a game exactly where she left off. The app includes detailed, and easy to access, documentation of all its features.

Tactical Checkers has been approved by Apple, and will be released for sale on Saturday May 7, 2016. Promo codes are available from David Sumner to anyone interesting in considering a review.

Tactical Checkers
Press Kit (zip)

David Sumner is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of South Carolina and is the author of many research papers in mathematics. He is also the author of PentoMind, a board game/puzzle app, which has as high as position three on Apple’s ‘What’s Hot in Board Games.’ He is also the author of the iOS apps Peg Pals Pro and Circular Tic Tac Toe. He has been an Apple developer for about 20 years. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2016 David Sumner. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, OS X, iPhone, iPod, iPad and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.