No.365
Fox and Geese: The Board Game
Japanese name: フォックス・アンド・ギース（盤遊び）
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Diagram key
- A
- White: 13 geese
- B
- Black: 1 fox
- C
- Geese move downward.
Materials
- A 33-point cross board connected by lines
- 13 goose counters in one colour
- 1 fox counter in another colour
How to play
- Place thirteen geese in the upper three rows of the cross and the fox at the centre. One player controls all geese; the other controls the fox. Alternate turns, with geese starting.
- Move one goose along a line to an adjacent empty point. Geese move forwards, diagonally forwards or sideways, never backwards, and cannot jump other counters.
- The fox moves one step along a line to an adjacent empty point in any direction. It may instead jump straight over one adjacent goose to the empty point immediately beyond, capturing that goose.
- This introduction allows only one jump per turn. Remove captured geese. Geese cannot capture the fox; they aim to block both its ordinary moves and its jumps.
- Geese win if the fox has no legal move. The fox wins when only two geese remain. Swap roles afterwards to try both strategies on the same board.
Ways to adapt
Younger primary: plan with an adult partner. Not intended for preschool. Explain this version without mixing in backward-moving geese or a seventeen-goose setup.