A game of Aadu Puli Attam is built to end in one of two ways: the tigers eat five goats, or the goats leave the tigers with nowhere to go. Sometimes the board settles into a standoff instead. The goats cannot quite close the trap, the tigers cannot find a capture, and without a rule to stop it the game would go round in circles forever.
Two draw rules end that standoff. This guide explains both as the standard rules define them: when they start counting, what makes two positions the same, what restarts the count of tiger moves and how to play each side when a draw comes into view. If you need the rest of the rules first, start with the complete rules of Aadu Puli Attam.
The two draw rules
Once all the goats have entered, a game is drawn in either of two ways:
- Threefold repetition. The same position, with the same side to move, appears for the third time.
- Fifty tiger moves without a capture. The tigers make fifty moves in a row, and none of them is a capture.
The game ends on the move that completes either rule, and nobody gets another turn. Both are part of the standard rules, so they apply in every online match in Three Tigers and on the board on our How to play page.
Nothing counts until the last goat is placed
Neither rule applies while goats are still entering. Tiger moves made during the placement phase never count towards the fifty, and no position from that phase counts towards a repetition.
Both counts start the moment the last goat is placed. The position straight after that placement, with the tigers to move, is the first one counted, and the count of tiger moves starts there from zero. Goats captured during placement change nothing: the counts start when the goat player's hand is empty.
What makes two positions the same
A position is the whole board at one moment: which points hold tigers, which hold goats and whose turn it is.
- Which goat stands where does not matter, only which points have goats on them. The same goes for the tigers.
- The side to move matters. The same arrangement with the goats to move and with the tigers to move counts as two different positions.
- The three appearances need not come in a row. A position from early in the movement phase still counts if it comes back much later.
A capture wipes the slate clean. After a capture there is one goat fewer on the board, and captured goats never come back, so no position from before the capture can ever appear again.
The fastest repetition is a shuffle. If one goat steps out and back while one tiger does the same, the board returns to the same position every four turns, so the third appearance comes eight turns after the first. No position can reach its third appearance any sooner.
How the fifty-move count works
- Only tiger moves count. The goats move in between, but their moves never add to the count.
- Any capture restarts it. The count goes back to zero after every capture, whichever tiger makes it.
- The fiftieth move ends the game. If the tigers make fifty moves in a row without capturing, the game is drawn on the fiftieth, before the goats can reply.
Because the goats move between the tigers' moves, the count gives them about fifty moves of their own. Only a capture restarts it, and only the tigers capture, so no goat move can reset it. The goats cannot force a capture either. Capturing is optional, so a tiger may turn down a goat that is offered, as long as the tigers have another move to make.
A trap beats the count. If no tiger can move or capture on the tigers' turn, the goats win, whatever either count says, so a trap that closes with the goats' move straight after the tigers' forty-ninth move still wins the game.
Playing the goats when a draw is near
When you are ahead, a draw throws away a win, and both rules can take it from you.
- Keep your own count. Count the tiger moves since the last capture, or since your last goat landed if nothing has been captured since. The trap has to close before the tigers' fiftieth move.
- Make every move do a job. Take a point away from a tiger, protect a goat that will soon need it, or bring a goat up behind the wall. A move that does none of these lets the count run on for nothing.
- Do not step back. A repetition needs your goats to rebuild an arrangement they have had before, and a wall that only ever moves towards the apex can never do that. Moving a goat back and forth to wait gives the tigers the chance of a repetition, which is how won games become draws, as our goat strategy guide warns.
- Do not rely on a sacrifice. Giving up a goat restarts the count only if a tiger takes it, and a tiger playing for the draw can refuse while the tigers have another move. It also brings the tigers one capture nearer to five.
A draw can save the goats too. With four goats gone, the next capture loses the game. If you cannot close the trap safely, keep every goat safe until the tigers have made fifty moves without a capture, and the game ends in a draw instead.
Playing the tigers when a draw is near
For the tigers, the draw rules cut both ways.
- When you are hunting, the count is against you. Every quiet move brings the draw one move nearer, and only a capture sets it back to zero. If the wall has no gaps, change where you press before the count runs low, as our tiger strategy guide suggests.
- When you are being trapped, the count is on your side. A draw is better than a loss, the count runs on your own moves, and the goats cannot stop it short of closing the trap. Keep your tigers off the corners and next to free points, because the goats have to take every move away from all three at once.
- Do not rely on a repetition. A position can only come round again if the goats rebuild an old arrangement too, and while they have other moves to choose from, they can avoid it.
- Weigh each capture against the count. Unless it is your fifth, a capture brings you one goat nearer to five but starts the count again, giving the goats fifty more tiger moves to finish the trap.
The draw rules in the family variants
All three family variants keep both draw rules, as our variants guide explains. What changes is the game around them:
- Fifteen captures. The tigers need every goat, and the count restarts after each capture. Once ten goats are gone the goats can no longer trap the tigers, so from then on a draw is the best result they can play for.
- Multiple jumps. A chain of jumps is one tiger move however many goats it takes, and it restarts the count like any capture.
- Placing the tigers. The two tigers in the tiger player's hand are placed while the goats are still entering, before either count starts, so once the last goat is down the draw rules work exactly as in the standard game.
On a board at home, settle before the first goat whether you play the draw rules at all. It is one of the four questions that guide suggests agreeing on.
How to practise
The board on our How to play page plays the standard rules, draw rules included, and when a game there ends in a draw it names the rule that ended it. Next time a game there goes quiet, keep the count yourself from the moment the last goat lands. In the Three Tigers app, online matches always use the standard rules, and the variants for offline games in Settings keep the draw rules too. The app is on the App Store for iPhone with iOS 17 or later.
Frequently asked questions
Can a game of Aadu Puli Attam end in a draw? Yes. Once all the goats have entered, the same position appearing for the third time, or fifty tiger moves without a capture, ends the game as a draw.
Do goat moves count towards the fifty? No. Only tiger moves count, and every capture starts the count again from zero.
Does a position have to repeat three times in a row? No. Any three appearances count, however far apart. After a capture, though, no earlier position can come back.
Is it a draw if the tigers cannot move? No. If no tiger can move or capture on the tigers' turn, the goats win, whatever the counts say.
Do the draw rules apply while goats are still being placed? No. Both start counting when the last goat is placed.
Can the goats restart the count? Only by letting a tiger capture, and a tiger can refuse while the tigers have another move.