Bagh Chal
ArcadeLab's next original release.
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About the game
Bagh Chal — Nepali for "tiger's move" — is a traditional two-player strategy board game widely regarded as the national game of Nepal, played for generations on a grid of 25 points. One side plays four tigers, the other twenty goats: the tigers try to capture goats by jumping over them, while the goats try to trap the tigers so they can't move at all.
Its exact age is hard to pin down — the game has no written origin, only oral tradition — but it's long been played with nothing more than a board scratched into dirt or carved into stone, using pebbles and stones as pieces. Historians and longtime players commonly trace its lopsided design to Nepal's pastoral, herding life: a handful of tigers hunting a much larger flock of goats echoes a real tension herders knew firsthand.
Like a number of traditional board games, everyday play has declined in recent decades. Reporting from The Kathmandu Post in 2021 described the game surviving mainly through dedicated older players, local conservation and competition efforts, and a growing handful of digital versions — one mobile app alone had passed 500,000 downloads at the time.
ArcadeLab is building its own take on Bagh Chal. Specific gameplay details, platforms, and a release date haven't been announced yet — this page will be updated as soon as they are.
What to expect
Feature details for Bagh Chal haven't been announced yet — this section will grow as development progresses.
FAQ
How do you win a game of Bagh Chal?
The tiger player wins by capturing five goats. The goat player wins by trapping every tiger so that none of the four has a legal move left — it's a game of encirclement as much as capture.
What does the traditional board look like?
A 5×5 grid of 25 points connected by lines — including some diagonals — so pieces sit on the points and move along the lines, more like checkers or alquerque than chess, where pieces sit inside squares.
Is this the traditional Bagh Chal game?
ArcadeLab's version is based on the traditional Nepali game. Specific design choices for this adaptation haven't been shared yet.
Is Bagh Chal out yet?
Not yet — ArcadeLab hasn't announced a release date. Check back here for updates.
What platforms will it be available on?
Platform details haven't been announced yet.