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Fox games are a category of asymmetric
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...
s for two players, where one player is the
fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
and tries to eat the
geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...
/
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
, and the opposing player directs the geese/sheep and attempts to trap the fox, or reach a destination on the board. In another variant, ''Fox and Hounds'', the fox merely tries to evade the hounds. There are several versions known:


History

The game ''Halatafl'' is known from at least as early as the 14th century, and it is mentioned in
Grettis saga ''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic ou ...
. It probably originated in Scandinavia, as a variant of
Tafl Tafl games (pronounced avl also known as hnefatafl games) are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Most probably they are based upon the Rom ...
. In fact, Halatafl is still played in Scandinavia with rules similar to Tafl; see below.
Edward IV of England Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
is known to have purchased two foxes and 26 hounds to form two sets of ''Marelles'', believed to be Fox and Hounds. As Fox and Geese, the game was a favorite pastime of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
.


Halatafl

''Halatafl'' means "tail board", in
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
, and "tail" presumably refers to a fox's tail. As in
Grettis saga ''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic ou ...
, ''rävspelet'' (modern
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
for "the Fox game") is still played with holes and pegs. There are two fox pegs (the red pegs on the picture) and 20 sheep pegs (the yellow pegs). Like the original game, ''tafl'', the objective is for the defender (sheep) to reach a certain destination on the board, the square of nine holes marked with red, and it is the attacker's (the foxes) objective to stop the defender from reaching it. The foxes are placed in the corners on the bottom of the red square (the paddock), whereas the sheep are placed on the opposite side of the board. When the players have decided who will move first, they move one step in turns. The sheep may only move forward or sideways, while the foxes may move in any direction, even backwards. If a sheep is in front of an empty hole, the fox has to jump over and capture the sheep, as in
checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
. The capturing is mandatory, as are repeated jumps if possible. The sheep have won if they manage to fill the paddock, the red square.


Fox and Geese

In the English-speaking world a simplified version is known as ''Fox and Geese''. In this version the objective of reaching a certain location has been removed and instead it all comes down to capturing each other's pieces. It is not mandatory for the fox to capture the opponent's pieces, and there are no restraints on the defender's (the geese's) movements. The fox is placed in the middle of the board, and 13 geese are placed on one side of the board. The fox and geese can move to any empty space around them (also diagonally). The fox can jump over geese like in
checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
, capturing them. Repeated jumps are possible. Geese can not jump. Unlike in Halatafl, capturing is not mandatory. The geese win if they surround the fox so that it cannot move. The fox wins if it captures enough geese so that the remaining geese cannot surround it. The traditional game with 13 geese is not well balanced and gives the advantage to the fox. There are more balanced game variants with 15, 17 or 18 geese or two foxes.


Fox and Hounds

This version (also called "Wolf and Sheep", "Hounds and Hare", or "Devil and Tailors") is played on an 8×8 chess/checkerboard. As in
draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
, only the dark squares are used. The four hounds are initially placed on the dark squares at one edge of the board; the fox is placed on any dark square on the opposite edge. The objective of the fox is to cross from one side of the board to the other, arriving at any one of the hounds' original squares; the hounds' objective is to prevent it from doing so. The hounds move like a draughts man, diagonally forward one square. The fox moves like a draughts king, diagonally forward or backward one square. However, there is no jumping, promotion, or removal of pieces. The play alternates with the fox moving first. The player controlling the hounds may move only one of them each turn. The fox is trapped when it can no longer move to a vacant square. It is possible for two hounds to trap the fox against an edge of the board (other than their original home-row) or even one corner (see diagram) where a single hound may do the trapping. Should a hound reach the fox's original home row it will be unable to move further. Perfect play will result in a "hounds" victory, even if the fox is allowed to choose any starting square and to pass his turn once during the game, as demonstrated in '' Winning Ways''. Koti Keliya or the Leopard Game is a similar blockade game to Fox and Hounds, and was played in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The game was documented by Henry Parker in ''Ancient Ceylon: An Account of the Aborigines and of Part of the Early Civilisation'' (1909). A 12 square x 12 square checkered board is used (144 squares in total), and Parker specifically mentions the checkered board to be red (or black) and white. One player plays the leopard which is represented by one piece, and six other pieces represents either cattle or dogs which is played by the other player. The cattle (or dogs) are initially placed on one side (its first rank) of the board, and on the white squares. The leopard may be placed on any vacant white square. Both leopard and cattle move in the diagonal direction only. The cattle are further restricted in their movements because they may only move one space in the forward diagonal direction in a turn onto a vacant square. The leopard may move in any diagonal direction one or two spaces in a turn provided the spaces are vacant. The objective of the cattle is to trap the leopard blocking its movements, whereas the leopard attempts to pass the cattle thus preventing the cattle from ever fulfilling their objective. There is no capturing in this game. Parker mentions that the game is not played in the interior villages of Sri Lanka.


See also

*
Asalto Asalto, also known as the Assault Game, German Tactics or Officers and Sepoys, is a board game for two players in which one player, playing as the officers, attempts to defend a fortress from their opponent's invading rebels. The game is a variant ...
*
Peg solitaire Peg solitaire, Solo Noble or simply Solitaire is a board game for one player involving movement of pegs on a board with holes. Some sets use marbles in a board with indentations. The game is known as solitaire in Britain and as peg solitaire in ...
- played on the same board and originating as a variant of the Fox games. *
Tafl games Tafl games (pronounced avl also known as hnefatafl games) are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Most probably they are based upon the Rom ...


References

Bibliography * *


External links


The Tafl Family
History of Tafl games {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox And Hounds Abstract strategy games Traditional board games