Bagh Bakri is the old hunting game that people have scratched onto courtyard floors for generations: four tigers against twenty goats. In Nepal the same game is famous as Bagh Chal. The two sides play completely differently. The Bagh jumps and hunts, the Bakri crowds together and slowly shuts the tigers in.
This page has the rules as Mandli plays them, tips for both sides, and how to play Bagh Bakri online with a friend while the rest of your group watches and shouts advice on voice.
Kya chahiye: Just phones. The app shows every legal move and counts the goats.
Rules: kaise khelte hain
The board
The board has 25 points in a 5x5 grid, joined by lines across and down. Every other point also has diagonal lines through it, so some points connect in 8 directions and some in only 4. Pieces sit and move on the points, not in squares.
Picking sides
The challenger picks Bagh or Bakri. If they don't pick within 10 seconds, they get Bakri, the harder side. The 4 Bagh start on the 4 corners. The Bakri player holds 20 goats in hand. Bakri moves first.
Bakri: place first, then move
Until all 20 goats are on the board, each Bakri turn places one goat on any empty point. Goats can't move until every goat is placed. After that, a Bakri turn moves one goat one step along a line to an empty point. Goats never jump and never capture.
Bagh: step or jump
On its turn the Bagh moves one tiger one step along a line to an empty point, or jumps over a single goat next to it, in a straight line, to the empty point just beyond. The jumped goat is captured. Only one jump per turn, and jumping is never compulsory.
Who wins
- Bagh wins by capturing 5 goats.
- Bakri wins when no tiger has a legal move. This can happen even while goats are still being placed.
- A draw happens if the same position comes up for the third time with the same side to move, or after 60 moves by each side, once placing is over, with no capture.
Time per move
Each move has 25 seconds. If time runs out, the app moves for you (a capture for Bagh if possible, a safe move for Bakri if possible). Three timeouts in a row lose the game.
Points kaise milte hain
Because Bakri is harder for new players, it scores more. A Bakri win is worth 20 points and a Bagh win is worth 15. A draw gives 8 each. The loser always gets 2 for sitting down, and a losing Bagh also gets 1 point per goat it captured, up to 4 more. Points carry across games in the room.
Jeetne ke tips
- Bakri: fill the edges and corners first. Goats on the edge can't be jumped from outside.
- Bakri: never leave a goat with an empty point right behind it in a line with a tiger. That is a free meal.
- Bakri: move in pairs and walls. A goat backed by another goat can't be jumped.
- Bagh: keep your tigers spread out and near the centre, where the diagonals give them room.
- Bagh: use the placing phase to hunt. Once all 20 goats are down, the board gets tight very fast.
- Play both sides. The winner stays, and the next challenger picks, so a champion has to win with both.
Ghar wale rules aur variants
Some families play with 1 or 2 tigers and fewer goats, or with different win targets. Mandli always uses 4 Bagh, 20 Bakri and 5 captures to win.
In South India a related game, often called Aadu Puli Aattam, is played on a triangle-shaped board with fewer tigers and goats. Mandli has only the 5x5 board.
Some people say a tiger must jump whenever it can. In Mandli jumping is always optional.
Bagh Bakri online kaise khelein
Make a room in Mandli, share the link on WhatsApp or show the QR code, and pick Bagh Bakri. Friends without the app join from the browser link. Two sit at the board and everyone else in the room watches the same board live, taps reactions and talks on voice. After each game the winner stays and the next person in the queue sits down and picks a side. Players can offer a draw, and anyone can resign. In Saath mode you sit together and talk out loud; in Door mode the voice chat inside the game carries the heckling. A dropped player's seat is held for 60 seconds.
Sawaal jawaab
What are the rules of Bagh Bakri?
4 tigers start on the corners of a 5x5 board and 20 goats are placed one at a time. Tigers capture by jumping over a goat. The Bagh wins by capturing 5 goats, the Bakri wins by trapping all 4 tigers.
Is Bagh Bakri the same as Bagh Chal?
Yes. Bagh Chal is the name used in Nepal for the same 4 tigers and 20 goats game on a 5x5 board. Families in India call it Bagh Bakri or tiger and goat.
Which side is easier, Bagh or Bakri?
Most new players find Bagh easier, because goats need patience and planning. That is why a Bakri win is worth more points in Mandli.
Can goats move before all of them are placed?
No. In Mandli all 20 goats must be placed before any goat can move.
Can I play Bagh Bakri online with a friend?
Yes. Mandli is free, has no ads and needs no login. Share the room link and play with voice chat inside the game.