Bagh Chal: (63.3Mb - includes DX9)
This was first given away back in July 07 and makes a welcome return to the giveaway project. It received a positive 76% of 175 votes as well as 26 comments (it was over the summer vacation which probably accounts for the low numbers)
Game Overview:
Bagh Chal is the national game of Nepal . Bagh Chal, which literally translates as "Tiger, Movement", is also called "Game of Tiger Tactics" or "Goats and Tigers". The game belongs to the family of hunting games in which each player either has a four "predators" or has "preys" which are more numerous. The goats block the tigers and the tigers eat the goats…The tigers are initially placed in the four corners of the board and they have to capture as many goats as possible so as not to become immobilized. To win, the "goat" player must immobilize the four tigers.
Rules of the Game (available either in the games installed folder as a html document, or via the main menu’s help menu.
Bagh Chal is played with four Tigers and twenty Goats.
At the start of the game, the tigers are placed in the four corners of the board.
The "goat" player places a goat on the board, which he can’t move until all twenty goats have been placed.The "tiger" player moves one of his tigers from one intersection to another, if there is a line linking them together and also if the intersection spot is free, or even (though he doesn’t have to) capture a goat by jumping the tiger over a goat onto a free intersection spot behind the goat, all in a straight line.
The "goat" player, from the twenty-first move onwards, can move his goats from one intersection to another, if there is a line linking them together and also if the final destination spot is free, and try to restrict the tigers’ movements. To win, the goats must immobilise the tigers.
The tigers have to capture as many goats as possible so as not to become immobilised. The tigers always have to leave the goats at least one possibility to move. Normally, if the "tiger" player takes five goats, he wins.The repeated repetition of moves is the equivalent to the "goat" player abandoning.
Reference: game help menu accessed 29th January 09
This is another excellent game from Exotic games courtesy of the game giveaway team. (We’ve been given some of these world games previously); and it’s another keeper for me. I enjoy playing games from around the world, especially if they are challenging; as this one is to my average mind.
The interface is well presented and the graphics are cool. Simple to learn and definitely a time filler between bigger games, or just as a much needed break from whatever. You can set the game up to play the board in 2D or 2D, though from the options menu this is in French and says pions plats (flat pieces) and pions 3D. Also you can rotate the board to view from a few angles as well as a top down view. The controls to do this are accessed from below the board where you can see four controls. The first on is for changing the camera view, the second will give you advice on the next move by highlighting the squares you should move to, the third button will cancel your last move, and can be used to take you right back to the beginning of your game if you wish. And the last button displays the main menu.
I love the start up music. Unfortunately it doesn’t carry on into the main game, where you get no music at all. Some say silence is golden; especially when you’re playing such a thinking game, but I love background music playing. Still, I can always use my media player if I wish. You can play against the computer or online via the internet or via a LAN, which is a great plus, especially if you have friends that download this game as well. Though on checking over a two day period I never saw any online games showing and could never connect to the Exotic game server. Thankfully if you know of some one with the game who you’d like to play you can set up your own server with the game. :)
The options menu has the usual music and sound effects sliders as well as the ability to toggle between 3D and 2D. You do require DX9 for this game; however if you don’t have it there’s no worries as the game comes packages with the files necessary. If you already have DX9 and you know it’s a recent version don’t bother to let this game install it’s version, especially if you’ve installed any DVD based games that have been released over the last two years as the version of DX9 being installed by the game may not be up to date enough to enable you to run newer games. Thankfully if there are any problems you can always reinstall the latest version of DX9 by downloading it from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/
I cancelled the installation of DX 9c as I already have it, and it plays fine, so my versions I already have must be compatible with the game.
If you don’t like the intro music you can change the music by going to the game folder and selecting the folder data then sons (French for sounds). Inside you will find an ogg file which could be changed for your preferred music, but you will have to convert it to ogg first, then rename it to intro. You can get a suitable audio converter from the giveaway freeware library, where you’ll find a couple to choose from:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/cat/Audio_Video_Audio_Encoders_Converters/
Minimum Requirements required: (last one assuming you wish to play online)
• Windows 98 (SE) / 2000 / XP
• Pentium III processor 700 MHz
• 3D video card, compatible DirectX
• 128 Mb RAM
• CD-ROM 4x
• 50 Mb free hard disk space
• DirectX 9.0c
• Local Area Network (LAN) or Internet for playing in multiplayer mode
Images
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Bagh%20Chal/?albumview=grid
As a Slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Bagh%20Chal/?albumview=slideshow
Googled:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Bagh+Chal&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
Conclusion:
If you like board games such as draughts (checkers), Chinese checkers, Backgammon and other games of that ilk, you’ll love this game. It’s definitely worth 7 out of 10 in my opinion, and would make a nice addition to anyone’s games library. It’s a simple design, but a hard game to beat.
Similar Games:
The following free version of Bagh Chal can be downloaded from the link below. It’s the same game that we are getting today, only it doesn’t have the nice looking graphics. It was originally posted by retrokase comment #16 the last time this was given away.
