🦊 Fox & Geese
10 playsFox & Geese
One fox, thirteen geese and a cross-shaped board — a hunt in which either side may win.
About Fox & Geese
Fox and Geese is an old farmhouse game, played across northern Europe for centuries on a cross of thirty-three points. The sides are deliberately unequal. Thirteen geese may only step forward or sideways, never back, and can never capture; the lone fox steps in any direction along the lines and takes a goose by jumping straight over it to the empty point beyond, chaining several jumps in a single turn if the board allows. The geese win by hemming the fox in until it cannot move. The fox wins when fewer than six geese remain, or when forty moves pass with no capture and no goose advancing, because a flock that will not move forward is no threat to anyone. The fox moves first. Choose either side, at Easy, Medium or Hard.
How to Play
Pieces move one point at a time along the lines, up, down, left or right. Geese move only up or sideways and never jump; the fox moves in any of those directions. The fox captures by jumping over a goose to the empty point beyond, and may chain jumps or stop early. Captures are never forced. The geese win by leaving the fox no legal move. The fox wins when fewer than 6 geese remain, or after 40 moves in a row with no capture and no goose stepping up.
💡 Tips & Strategy
As the geese, the whole game is formation. A goose with another goose directly behind it, or with the edge of the board behind it, cannot be jumped, because the fox needs an empty point to land on. Advance in a solid line, filling the row behind before pushing the row ahead, and never leave a single goose stranded in front of the flock. Thirteen geese against one fox is a winning advantage, but only while you keep it; once fewer than six remain the fox has won, so every unnecessary capture brings that line closer.
The geese must keep moving forward as well as keeping safe. Forty moves without a capture and without a goose stepping up awards the game to the fox, so sideways shuffling cannot run out the clock. Plan each advance so that the goose moving up is backed by the one beside or behind it, and use the sideways moves only to close gaps. The fox is finally trapped in the upper part of the cross, where the board is narrow; drive it there and close the last few points with care.
As the fox, look for doubles and chains. A single jump is rarely enough to break the flock, but a position in which one jump lands you beside another isolated goose can take two or three in a turn. Captures are never forced, so you may decline a jump that would carry you into a trap. Stay in the open centre, where you have the most room to move, and keep probing the flanks: a goose that moves up without support is the one to take.
When there is nothing to capture, play for the stall. Geese that hold back to stay safe are not advancing, and forty quiet moves give you the win; when the flock is wary of you, simply remaining mobile and threatening may be enough. Undo is there to learn from, but each one costs 10 points, and the score is multiplied by 1.5 at Medium and 2 at Hard.