The Chouette game (Backgammon’s brother)

Chouette is a variation of backgammon that allows multiple players to take part in a game at the same time.

When all players have joined a game, the host starts the game and one person will play against the rest. This person who plays against the rest is called the box. The remainders of the players are called the team. One player is ``the box'', and plays against all other players on a single board. One other player is the captain, and rolls the dice and makes the plays for the team that opposes the box. If the box wins, the captain goes to the back of the line, and the next player becomes captain. If the captain wins, the box goes to the back of the line, and the captain becomes the new box. Customs vary as to the rights of the captain's partners: In some Chouettes, they may consult freely as to the way rolls should be played. In others, consultation is prohibited. A compromise, where consultation is allowed only after the cube has been turned, is popular. Originally, Chouettes were played with a single cube. The only decisions that players other than the captain were allowed to make independently concerned takes: If the box doubled, each player on the team could take or drop independently. Today, multiple-cube Chouettes are more popular; each player on the team has his own cube, and all doubling, dropping, and taking decisions are made independently by all players.

Common variations (From: 247-backgammon.com)

• No consultation before double is a common rule that says that non of the players on the team are allowed to comment on the game before they have doubled or accepted a cube.

• Legal plays rule says that if anyone observes an illegal play they can and should object even if they do not have consultation rights.

• Auto-double is a rule that is sometimes used in money game. In Chouette it has a special variation. Often the Box is given the option of deciding whether matching rolls should result in an increase in the cubes' values. This decision must be taken for all the cubes as one. When two matching rolls are rolled after each other the Box sometimes can chose to carry one auto-double to the next game if he is still in the box at that time.

• Roll-out is a rule that favors the better cube handler. The rule says that when a cube is given all participants in the Chouette have to make a similar decision on the cube handling (take or drop).

• If many players are participating in the Chouette it can sometimes be a good idea to give the Box a partner. The same rules then apply for the Box and his partner as for the Captains team. This rule requires that two cubes are associated with each player on the Captains team (one for each player in the box). Normally the order is determined almost the same way as before. The only difference is that the Box' partner is not part of the updating process unless the Box loose. He will then become the new Box and the player on the team that would normally become the new Box becomes the Box' partner.

• Beside the above mentioned variations all kinds of side bets, settlements and place trading can be allowed.