Tiger and buffaloes

Tiger and buffaloes is a two-player abstract strategy board game from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).^[1] It belongs to the hunt game family. The board is a 4x4 square grid (or a 4 x 4 square board), where pieces are played on the intersection points. It is one of the smallest hunt games. Three tigers are going up against eleven buffaloes. The tigers attempt to capture as many of the buffaloes by the short leap method as in draughts or Alquerque. The buffaloes attempt to hem in the tigers.

The game most resembles tiger hunt games (or tiger games) and perhaps can be classified as one. Examples of Tiger games are Bagh-Chal, Rimau-rimau, and Catch the Hare. Tiger games usually consist of a standard Alquerque board which is a 5 x 5 square grid with diagonal lines cris-crossing through it. Tiger and buffaloes consist of only a 4 x 4 square grid with no diagonal lines.

The game was described by Miloš Zapletal in his 1986 book Velká encyklopedie her; II. Hry v klubovně which when translated from Czech is Great Encyclopedia of games; II. Games in the clubhouse.^[1]

Another name for the game is Tiger game.

Setup

A 4x4 square grid is used, and this creates 16 intersection points (here-in-forth referred to as "points").

There are 3 tiger pieces colored black, and 11 buffalo pieces colored white.

Players decide who will play the Tigers, and who will play the Buffaloes.

The board is empty in the beginning with each player's pieces set beside it.

Rules

Players alternate their turns throughout the game.
The first stage of the game is the Drop phase. The Buffaloes move first. Four buffaloes are placed on any vacant points on the board. Then the Tiger player places one tiger on any vacant point. Then the Buffalo player places four more of its pieces on any vacant points. Then the Tiger player places another tiger piece onto any vacant point. Then the Buffalo player places its last three buffaloes on any vacant point. Lastly, the Tiger player places its last tiger onto any vacant point.
The next stage is the Movement phase. The Buffaloes move first. Both tigers and buffaloes can move along a line onto a vacant adjacent point. There are only orthogonal lines on the board, and therefore all moves are orthogonal (right, left, forward, backward). However, the tiger instead can capture an adjacent buffalo. The tiger leaps over the adjacent buffalo, and lands on a vacant point immediately beyond. The leap must be in a straight line, and follow the pattern on the board. The captured buffalo is removed from the board. It is uncertain if multiple leaps and captures are allowed. It is also uncertain if captures are compulsory, but in all other hunt games, captures are never compulsory.
The tigers win if they capture enough buffaloes such that the buffaloes can no longer effectively block their movements.
The buffaloes win if they block the movements of the tigers (i.e., the tigers cannot perform a legal move or capture).

Related Games

References

1 2 "Tiger Game". Klub přátel deskových her. Retrieved 17 July 2016.

External links

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