TigerAndGoats

This is the smallest and simplest variation of tigers and goats board game popular in villages since ancient times in India and Nepal. In this version there is 1 tiger and 5 goats. Tiger is already on the board and so goats move first. All 5 goats have be placed on the board before they can move. Tiger can kill a goat by jumping over a goat like in checkers. Goats win if tiger is encircled by goats and cannot move. Since it takes at least 4 goats to encircle a tiger, it is a tiger win if it kills 2 goats. If played correctly it is an easy win for goats. There is "undo" to take back a move. And there is "hint" for goats so not much of a challenge. Hence it is suited for small kids. With 1 goat killed, there is a very small chance that goats can still win. That is a good challenge to find those positions. In the other variations there are 3 tigers-15 goats, 4 tigers-20 goats and with bigger boards so the games are little more involved. I will publish those games later. Have fun playing!

START will restart the game. START can be pressed anytime to restart.

With PCMOVE the computer will make the move either for the tiger or for the goats. A computer move for the tiger will always be a kill move if available but otherwise a random move. A computer move for the goats is always a winning move if there is one or a move to avoid getting killed or a random move, in that order. Users can switch sides even during the game as often as desired! And by keep pressing PCMOVE one can make the computer play the game to the end.

UNDO will revert the previous move. Any number of moves can be undone in reverse order.

HINT will give a winning move for the goats if there is one. With all five goats on board there is usually a winning move for the goats. With 4 goats, very few positions have winning move for the goats. And for the tiger, there are no hints!