Bagh-Chal
Four hungry tigers leap to feast; twenty goats swarm to pen them in — pick a side in this lopsided hunt.
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.
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