Backgammon plays a central role in the movie with Alex and his grandfather Bai Dan playing backgammon as they travel around Europe during Alex’s healing journey. The game is very symbolic in the story since according to director and screenwriter Georgi Djulgerov,”Destiny is the dice we hold in our own hands and life is a game on the edge between chance and skill.”

The movie was directed by Stephan Komandarev and written by Dusan Milic, Stephan Komandarev, Ilija Trojanov, Yuri Datchev. Last year the movie won the Audience Award in the Zurich Film Festival, the Audience Award and Best Bulgarian Film in the Sofia International Film Festival, and the Jury Award in the Bergen International Film Festival.

The film is translated into German, Italian, and Slovenian (aside from the original Bulgarian of course) so if you wish to see the movie make sure you turn on the substitles.

                             Photo taken by Kym Rohman

Do you like backgammon?  I am assuming that you do, since you are reading this blog.

Are you a gadget enthusiast?  I am hoping that you are, because what I am about to share with you has something to do with one of the most sought after gadgets today – the iPhone.  I still remember the excitement that coursed through my veins the day that I heard that Apple was working on a phone that would have the functionality of an iPod.  I was a huge iPod then (and still am now).  I knew that nothing would compare to the iPhone (I may be wrong, though).

So anyhow, just like all the other new mobile phones in the market today, the iPhone has more features than one could ever use and one of them is the ability to play games!  Now for people like me who love technology, this is something not to be taken lightly.  Taking it one step further, however, Gameloft has developed backgammon for the iPhone.  More than the usual run of casual games that we can find in mobile phones, they have now acknowledged the fact that there are a lot of people who would want to play “mind games” such as chess and backgammon on their mobile phones.

So why would you want backgammon on your iPhone?

[The game uses] the iPhone’s features in their gameplay. In chess, you move pieces by dragging and dropping them with the touchscreen, choosing between 2D and 3D views of the board. Meanwhile, for backgammon you shake the iPhone to roll the dice.

There’s a choice of difficulty levels, promised “human-like artificial intelligence”, and a big choice of themes to keep the games looking fresh. Meanwhile, there are three modes: Instant Play, Quiz and Classic Games.

Now isn’t that enough incentive to get the game?