Four hungry tigers leap to feast; twenty goats swarm to pen them in, pick a side in this lopsided hunt.
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How to play
Bagh-Chal is an asymmetric chase on a 5×5 grid of points joined by lines. Four tigers begin in the corners; the goat player has twenty pieces to bring in. Goats drop one at a time onto any empty point and cannot move until all twenty are placed. Tigers slide along a line, or leap a lone goat into the empty point beyond to devour it. Tigers win by eating five goats; goats win by trapping every tiger so none can move.
Goats: place all twenty pieces first, then start sliding them one step along a line.
Tigers: slide along a line, or jump a single adjacent goat into the empty space behind to capture it.
Diagonal lines exist only on the 'even' points of the board.
Tigers win at five captures; goats win when all four tigers are blockaded.
Game modes
vs Computer: play Goats or Tigers against Easy, Medium, or Hard.
Hot-seat: two players share the board, one side each.
Online: host an invite, join by code, or quick-match, seat one takes the Goats.
Controls
Desktop: click an empty point to place a goat, or click a piece then a highlighted point to move.
Phone & tablet: tap to place and tap a piece then its destination to slide or leap.
Tips & strategy
As goats, never leave a single goat with an empty point behind it, that is a free meal for a tiger.
As goats, advance in solid walls to choke the tigers' lines without offering jumps.
As tigers, force goats into open lanes early before their numbers build a cage.
Origins
Bagh-Chal, 'moving tigers', is a traditional game of Nepal, an uneven hunt in which a few tigers try to pick off a herd of goats while the goats try to pen the tigers in. It belongs to a wider family of tiger-hunt games played across South and Southeast Asia, and it remains a familiar sight on Nepali boards and pavements.
About Bagh-Chal
Bagh-Chal is Nepal's national board game, a classic asymmetric hunt game of pursuit and entrapment. This is an original, free browser version with side selection, three computer strengths, hot-seat, and live online play, no download required.
A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.
