Two Tigers
Two Tigers is a board game dating from the Shogunate, and still played across the Blessed Isle and Threshold.
The board is a square, consisting of four smaller squares which are divided in half by lines down, then across, and then on both diagonals. Boards are typically polished wood, with lines often painted or made from inlaid wood or metal of a different shade.
In the game, there are two Tigers (represented by gold pieces) and twenty Goats (represented by white pieces)
The goal of the Tigers' player is to elude being surrounded, and capture as many Goats as possible, while the Goats' player is attempting to surround and trap the Tigers. The Goats win if they surround and immobilize the two Tigers, the Tigers win if they capture enough Goats so that they cannot immobilize the Tigers.
In the beginning, one Tiger is placed on the second point from the top of the middle column, and the other Tiger is placed on the fourth point. The goats are 'piled' on the first point and third point of each column from the top, for the second left most column and second right most column. Therefore, there are four points on the board that all the 20 goats are placed upon initially, and each of the four points has 5 goats each.
Players alternate their turns throughout the game. Only one piece may used to move or capture per turn. The goats start first.
The Goat player may take the top goat of a pile, and place it onto any vacant adjacent point following the pattern on the board. Or the goat player can take any single goat on the board and move it one space onto any vacant adjacent point following the pattern on the board. A goat may not move onto a pile, or onto a single goat piece to form a pile.
Similarly, a Tiger may be moved one space onto a vacant adjacent point following the pattern on the board. A Tiger can also capture by the short leap (as in Dragon-draughts). The Tiger leaps over the adjacent Goat, and lands on a vacant point immediately beyond. The leap must be in a straight line and follow the pattern on the board. A Tiger can also leap over a pile of Goats, but only captures the top most Goat of the pile, and lands onto a vacant point on the other side. Again, the jump must be in a straight line and follow the pattern on the board. The Tiger may continue moving to capture multiple Goats in a single turn, but, cannot jump back and forth on the same pile to capture all of its pieces in one turn. Captures are not compulsory.
Goats cannot capture.
