Fox and geese rules: how to play fox and geese
Fox and geese is a game for two players. One of you has a single fox. The other has a flock of 17 geese. The fox captures geese by jumping over them. The geese can't capture at all, but they win if they hem the fox in so it can't move.
People have played hunt games like this in northern Europe since the Middle Ages. These rules use 17 geese that never move backwards, as most rule sheets do today. You'll find the older game with 13 geese under Variants.
- Players
- 2
- Playing time
- 10-20 min
- Age
- 6+
- What you need
- A cross-shaped board with 33 points and diagonal lines, 1 fox and 17 geese of another colour
Updated: 2 November 2026
The board
The board is a cross with four equal arms. It has 33 points where lines meet. The pieces stand on these points, not in the spaces between the lines.
Picture a square grid of 7 by 7 points. Now remove a block of 2 by 2 points from each corner. The 33 points left over form the cross. Its centre is a square of 3 by 3 points. Each arm is 3 points wide and 2 points long. Across the middle, the board has three full rows of 7 points.
Lines join each point to its neighbours: left and right, up and down. Diagonal lines also run through the centre and every second point from it, like the dark squares of a checkerboard. You always move along a line, from one point to the next. Some boards have no diagonals. See A board without diagonal lines.
No board at home? Draw the 33 points and the lines on paper and play with coins or buttons. A peg solitaire board has the same 33 holes.
Setting up
- Decide who plays the fox and who plays the geese. It's fairest to play twice and swap sides.
- Turn the board so that one arm points at the geese player. This is the geese's home arm.
- Fill the home arm with 6 geese.
- Fill the whole row just beyond the home arm with 7 geese.
- Put the last 4 geese on the middle row: two at each end.
- Put the fox on the centre point. The fox moves first.
Quick check: 17 geese, 1 fox and 15 empty points.
Moving
Players take turns. On your turn, you move one piece one step along a line to an empty point. You can't skip a turn.
- The fox may step in any direction: forwards, backwards or sideways.
- A goose may step forwards, sideways or diagonally forwards, but never backwards. Forwards means away from the geese's home arm, towards the arm opposite.
- The geese player moves only one goose per turn.
- Geese never jump and can't capture the fox. Their only weapon is blocking.
How the fox captures
The fox captures a goose by jumping over it, as in checkers. The goose must stand on the point next to the fox, along a line. The point straight beyond it, on the same line, must be empty. The fox lands there, and the goose leaves the board for good.
After landing, the fox may jump again if another goose stands next to it with an empty point straight beyond. It may change direction between jumps. So in one move, the fox can capture several geese in a chain.
- The fox can't jump two geese standing next to each other in a line. It needs an empty point to land on.
- Capturing is optional. The fox may step instead of jumping, and it may stop a chain after any jump.
End of the game
The geese win when the fox can't move. Every point next to it is filled, and it has no jump to make.
The fox wins in any of these cases:
- Only 5 geese or fewer are left. They can hardly ever trap the fox now, so the game counts as won.
- The fox gets behind all the geese, nearer their home arm than any of them. Geese can't move backwards, so they can never reach it.
- The geese have no legal move on their turn.
Either player may also give up when the game is clearly lost. If neither side can make progress and moves keep repeating, agree a draw or play on until someone gives up.
Tips for a first game
- Geese: advance as a tight wall. Keep the point behind each front goose filled, so the fox has nowhere to land.
- Geese: never leave a gap the fox can slip through. Once it is behind your wall, you have lost.
- Fox: stay in the open middle. Look for a goose with an empty point behind it, and wait for the geese to make a mistake.
Variants
13 geese, the traditional game
This is the oldest known form, and some boxed sets still come with it. It is usually played on a board without diagonal lines. Use 13 geese. Fill the home arm and the whole row just beyond it, and leave the middle row empty. The fox starts on the centre point.
- The geese move first.
- Geese may step in any direction, including backwards.
- The fox wins when 5 geese or fewer are left. Getting behind the geese doesn't win on its own.
With so few geese, the fox usually has the better chances.
A board without diagonal lines
Some boards have no diagonal lines, only lines across and up and down. On such a board, every step and every jump follows those lines. Geese then move forwards or sideways only.
Compulsory capture
The fox must capture whenever it can. Once it starts a chain, it must keep jumping as long as a jump is possible. The geese can then lure the fox into a trap by offering it a goose.
Fox and hounds on a checkerboard
This related game is played on the dark squares of an 8 by 8 checkerboard. One player has a fox, the other four hounds.
- The hounds start on the four dark squares of the edge row nearest their player.
- The fox starts on any dark square of the far edge row, and moves first.
- The fox steps one square diagonally in any direction. A hound steps one square diagonally forwards only.
- Nobody jumps or captures.
- The fox wins by reaching the hounds' starting row. The hounds win when the fox can't move.
Frequent questions
What does a fox and geese board look like?
It's a cross with four equal arms and 33 points. Think of a 7 by 7 grid of points with a 2 by 2 block removed from each corner. Lines join neighbouring points, and you move along them. See The board.
How many geese are there?
In these rules, 17. The traditional game has 13, and some sets still come with 13. Some players use 15 or 18 geese to make the game fairer for one side or the other.
Can the geese move backwards?
Not in the game with 17 geese. They step forwards, sideways or diagonally forwards. In the traditional game with 13 geese, they may step in any direction.
Can the fox capture more than one goose in a move?
Yes. After each jump, the fox may jump again if another goose has an empty point behind it. It may turn between jumps. It can't jump two geese standing next to each other in a line.
Does the fox have to capture?
No. Capturing is optional, and the fox may stop a chain whenever it likes. Some players make capturing compulsory. See Compulsory capture.
Who moves first, and where does the fox start?
With 17 geese, the fox moves first. With 13 geese, the geese move first. The fox starts on the centre point. Some players let the fox start on any empty point instead.
Can the pieces move diagonally?
Yes, along the diagonal lines of the board. Geese may step diagonally forwards, never backwards. On a board without diagonal lines, you move only across and up and down.
Can the geese capture the fox?
No. Geese never jump and never capture. They win only by trapping the fox so it has no move left.
When does the fox win?
When 5 geese or fewer are left, when it gets behind all the geese, or when the geese can't move. The geese player may also give up earlier.
When do the geese win?
When the fox can't move on its turn. Every point around it is filled, and no goose next to it has an empty point behind it.
Which side has the advantage?
With 13 geese, the fox usually wins. With 17 geese that never move backwards, careful geese have a good chance. If the geese keep winning, leave out the two middle-row geese nearest the centre and play with 15. If the fox keeps winning, put them back.
How can I play without a board?
Draw the cross of 33 points and its lines on a sheet of paper. Use one coin or button for the fox and 17 of another kind for the geese. A peg solitaire board works too.
Log your plays
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