🐯 Play Aadu Puli Attam online

Aadu Puli Attam, the game of goats and tigers, is a traditional Tamil strategy game that was once scratched onto verandah floors and flat stones and played with pebbles. Three tigers face fifteen goats on a mountain-shaped board of 23 points. It belongs to a wider family of "hunt games" played across South Asia.

The tigers hunt by jumping over goats. The goats cannot capture anything, but working together they can surround the tigers until none can move. Choose your side, goats or tigers, and play against the computer. There is no luck involved, only planning, so every game is a real battle of wits. Play free in your browser with no sign-up, and read our Aadu Puli Attam guide for strategy tips.

How to play Aadu Puli Attam

1. Choose to play as the Goats or the Tigers, and pick Easy or Normal. The computer plays the other side.
2. The 3 tigers start on the board. The 15 goats are placed one at a time on empty points.
3. Once all goats are placed, the goats move one step along a line to a neighbouring empty point.
4. A tiger moves one step along a line, or jumps over a neighbouring goat in a straight line to an empty point beyond, capturing it.
5. The goats win by trapping all three tigers so they cannot move. The tigers win by capturing 6 goats.
6. Once all goats are placed, if 60 moves (counting both sides) pass without a capture, the game is a draw.

Tips to score higher

• As goats, never leave a goat with an empty point directly behind it in line with a tiger.
• As goats, build a solid wall from the bottom of the board and close in slowly.
• As tigers, stay in the open middle of the board and avoid corners.
• As tigers, look for moves that threaten two goats at once.

Frequently asked questions