Tigers and Goats

2 players at a time can play Tigers and Goats .

This is a tough and challenging strategy game also known as an uneven game.

Tigers and Goats

Also known as Bagha Chal, it is the national game of Nepal.

The game is played on a 5 by 5 grid with 4 tigers and 20 goats. See the picture above, the tigers are represented in our version of the game with tiger colored marbles and the goats are represented with the white ones.

There are two stages to the game.

At the start of the game, the four tigers are placed in the corners of the board and the 20 goats are placed to one side. The goats start by placing one goat on the board anywhere and alternating turns with the tiger player. During the first phase of the game, goats cannot be moved once placed on the board until all the goats have been placed on the board.

The tigers must capture five goats or immobilize the goats so they cannot move.

The goats can only win by immobilizing the tigers.

In the first stage, the goats are placed on the board one at a time alternating with tiger moves.

The goat player cannot move any goats, during the first phase. The goat player is always to place goats until this phase is over. That means that if a goat is being threatened by a tiger the only way the goat player can save the goat is by placing another goat so that the tiger player cannot jump "or eat" the goat.

In the second phase, the pieces move from space to space along the lines in any direction. The tiger player has two possible types of move. They can move or they can "eat" a goat. To eat a goat, a tiger must be able to jump over the goat. Tigers can only jump in a straight line. More than one goat may be "eaten" during a move by the tiger as long as it is in a straight line. Goats defend against being "eaten" by having no open places for tigers to land on the other side

In certain conditions it is possible to reach a stalemate where a goat can move between two places to keep from being captured or immobilized. In any event, a goat player cannot move a goat into and out of the same position more than two times without moving another goat. .

The game ends when a tiger has either eaten 5 goats, (during the first or second phase of the game) leaving only 15 goats, or the goats or tigers have been immobilized and a player cannot move, or a goat player is out of options to move another piece where one goat has been moved 2 times already.

This game comes with playing marbles as shown above, the plastic playing board of our own design and instructions. These games can be washed.

The Tigers and Goats game board shown is
© 2003 Danial CrowTalker

Product Code: DP-014