Bagchal (Tigers and Goats)
Nepal's classic tigers-and-goats board game β two players, one screen.
Tap a piece, then tap a highlighted point to move it.
Play Bagchal (Bagh-Chal), the traditional Nepali board game of four tigers against twenty goats, right in your browser with a friend on the same device. Tigers win by capturing 5 goats; goats win by trapping every tiger. Works full-screen on mobile.
What is Bagchal?
Bagchal (ΰ€¬ΰ€Ύΰ€ΰ€ΰ€Ύΰ€²) is a traditional strategy board game from Nepal. The name means "tiger's move": bagh is tiger and chal is move. One player controls 4 tigers and the other controls 20 goats. It's a game of unequal sides β the tigers are strong but few, while the goats are weak alone but powerful together. Boards have been scratched into stone steps and courtyards in Nepal for generations, and brass sets are a popular souvenir.
Rules
- The board is a 5 Γ 5 grid of 25 points joined by lines. Pieces move along the lines from point to point.
- The tigers start on the four corners. The goats start off the board.
- Goats move first. On each turn, the goat player places one goat on any empty point. Only after all 20 goats are on the board can goats move β one step along a line to an empty neighboring point.
- Tigers move one step along a line to an empty point, or capture by jumping over a goat in a straight line to the empty point just beyond it. The jumped goat is removed.
- Goats can't capture. Their only weapon is blocking.
- Tigers win by capturing 5 goats. Goats win by trapping all four tigers so none can move.
Strategy for goats
- Start at the edges and corners. A goat on the edge can't be jumped from outside the board.
- Never leave an empty point behind a goat in line with a tiger. A goat is only safe if the point behind it is filled or off the board.
- Move as a group. Goats protect each other by filling the spaces tigers need to land on.
- Be patient. Losing a goat or two early is survivable; rushing toward the tigers usually costs more.
- Tighten slowly. Once all goats are placed, shrink the tigers' space step by step until they're trapped.
Strategy for tigers
- Control the center. The middle point connects in eight directions, giving the most chances to capture.
- Stay spread out. Tigers bunched together block each other and are easier to trap.
- Threaten two captures at once. The goat player can only block one per turn.
- Strike during placement. Tigers are strongest while goats are still being placed and gaps are everywhere.
Is it fair?
Yes. In 2004, computer scientists Lim Yew Jin and JΓΌrg Nievergelt fully analyzed the game and showed that with perfect play by both sides, Bagchal ends in a draw. In practice, beginners usually find tigers easier, while experienced goat players win often by keeping their formation tight.
Frequently asked questions
How do I play?
Choose Human vs Human or Human vs Computer above the board. The goat player places goats one at a time (tap any empty point); once all 20 are placed, goats move one step at a time instead. Tigers move or capture on every turn from the very start.
How does a tiger capture a goat?
A tiger jumps over an adjacent goat in a straight line β along any line actually drawn on the board β landing on the empty point just beyond it. The jumped goat is removed. Tigers win after 5 captures.
How do goats win?
Goats win by trapping every tiger so none of them has a legal move or jump left, anywhere on the board.
Why do some points have diagonal lines and others don't?
The board is a traditional Alquerque-style grid β every one of the 16 small squares has exactly one diagonal, alternating direction in a checkerboard pattern. That's what gives the center and its four nearest points so many connections, while the corners only have three.
How good is the computer opponent?
Choose Easy, Intermediate, or Expert. On Intermediate and Expert it weighs captures, board mobility, and safety rather than picking randomly, so it's a genuine opponent β but it's a fast heuristic, not an unbeatable solver, and it deliberately varies between similarly-good moves so it doesn't play the exact same way every game.
Who goes first in Bagchal?
The goats. The goat player places the first goat, then the players alternate turns.
Can a tiger jump more than one goat in a turn?
No. A tiger can capture only one goat per turn, by jumping over it to the empty point directly beyond.