Bagh ChalBaghChal3D
Tigers hunt. Goats trap.
Two old friends watch from the chautari.
The Village Chautari
A dry-stone platform under an old peepal tree, terraced hills rolling off to the Himalaya. This is where Bhim Bahadur and Dhan Bahadur sit and play, and where the village walks by.
- A peepal tree that sways in the wind, dappled light and warm golden hours
- Villagers pass through: a woman with her doko of grass, a farmer, a child, a buffalo
- A soft village radio, birdsong, and weather that rolls in, thunder and rain included
Phewa Lake
Move the chautari to the shore. Blue and red wooden boats rest on the water and the Annapurna range stands over the far side, just as it does in Pokhara.
- A real lakeside backdrop with a small meadow around the platform
- Paragliders that circle above you and land
- Lapping waves, drifting cloud and a bright mountain-lake light
Mt Everest
The top of the world, and a board that freezes over. Snow settles on every piece, ice crusts the platform, and the light changes through the day.
- Four times of day, from blue morning to a Milky Way night
- Heavy snowfall, falling ice and avalanches, with prayer flags in the wind
- A frosted peepal, ice on everything, and a “Nepal Proud” sign
An old game of hunters and hunted.
Bagh Chal (बाघचाल, “moving tiger”) has been played in Nepal for generations, scratched into a stone, drawn in chalk, or laid out on a cloth. Four tigers against twenty goats on a five-by-five board.
It is easy to learn in a minute and hard to master in a lifetime. The goats must crowd the tigers into a corner. The tigers must hop over goats to eat them. Everyone who has played it on a village chautari remembers the feeling.
Four rules. That is all.
Set up
Four tigers sit on the corners. The goats wait in the tray: twenty of them. Goats move first.
Place the goats
Each turn the goat player puts one goat on any empty point. The tigers move after every goat.
Slide and jump
Once all goats are down they slide one step along a line. A tiger steps too, or jumps a goat in a straight line to the empty point behind it, capturing it.
Win
Tigers win with five captures. Goats win by trapping all four tigers so none can move.
Not sure? The game has a full help page with tips and a Nepali word list, and the computer plays at three levels so you can learn gently.
Made like a village,
built like a game.
Everything runs in your browser. No download, no account, no waiting room.
Real 3D pieces
Carved-looking goats and tigers you can look around. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, jump between camera views.
Two living opponents
Bhim Bahadur and Dhan Bahadur move the pieces themselves with animated arms and hands, and glance, blink and talk as they play.
Spoken Nepali
The elders chat and tease as the game goes on, with English subtitles and a transliteration to help you learn.
A computer that thinks
Three difficulty levels, from friendly to ruthless. Play either side: tigers or goats.
Play online
Challenge a friend over the internet, and the game helps you back in if a connection drops.
Two on one screen
Pass the phone across the table and play the old way, face to face.
Village radio
A soft radio, wind, birds and weather, with separate volume sliders for the music and the village.
Phone, tablet, desktop
Touch or mouse, undo any move, and your settings are remembered. Works offline after the first visit.
Sit down. There is time.
Chai on the stove, a radio in the distance, a game that has no clock. We built Bagh Chal to feel like the afternoon you remember, whether that was in a Gorkha village, by a Pokhara lake, or only in stories.
Come, let us play.
Pick tigers or goats, pick a world, and the elders will make room on the chautari.
Start Game