Rimau-rimau

Rimau-rimau is a two-player abstract strategy game that belongs to the hunt game family. This family includes games like Rimau, Bagha-Chall, Main Tapal Empat, Aadu puli attam, and the Fox games. Rimau-rimau is the plural form of rimau which means "tiger" in the Malay language. Therefore, rimau-rimau means "tigers". The several hunters attempting to surround and immobilize the tigers are called orang-orang which is the plural form of orang which means "man". Therefore, orang-orang means "men" and there are twenty-two or twenty-four of them depending on which version of the game is played. The game originates from Malaysia.

Rimau-rimau is specifically part of the tiger hunt game family as it uses an expanded Alquerque board. Leopard games are also hunt games, but use a more triangular board and not an Alquerque based board. Fox games are also hunt games, but use more of a cross patterned board.

There are two versions to this game: Version A and Version B. Both use two rimau-rimau (two tigers). The main difference is that Version A uses 24 orang-orang while Version B uses only 22 orang-orang.

There is also a single rimau version to this game aptly called Rimau with very similar rules. The difference is that in Rimau, the tiger can eat an odd number of men (1, 3, 5, or 7). In Rimau-rimau, the same rule can also be applied, but due to the advantage of the two tigers with this rule, it is preferable that they be only allowed to capture one man at a time.

From here on, the rimau or rimau-rimau will be simply referred to their English names tiger and tigers respectively. The same also applies to the orang and orang-orang, and they will be referred to as man and men respectively.

Goal

The men win if they surround the two tigers and block their movements.

The tigers win if they capture all the men, or capture as many men as possible so that the men cannot block their movements.

Equipment

The game uses an expanded Alquerque board. The Alquerque board is flanked on two opposite sides by a triangular patterned board called a mountain. The mountains are called "gunung" in Malay. There are two black pieces called tigers, and 22 or 24 white pieces called men. Version A has 24 men, and version B has 22 men. Pieces are played on the intersection points of the board.

Rules and Gameplay

There are two versions to this game.

Version A:

1. In the beginning the two tigers are placed at the vertex of the two mountains that connects to the Alquerque board. Nine men are initially placed on the nine points of the central square.

2. The tiger player moves first and removes any 3 men from the board. Additionally, the tiger player may also pick up one of his tigers, and reallocates it on "any" empty point on the board. The tigers can simply remain where they are already.

3. The man player moves next, and must drop his or her remaining 15 pieces on any vacant point on the board one piece per turn before he or she can begin to move any of them. This will take 15 turns. Players alternate their turns. The tigers can move and capture from the beginning.

4. Only one man is used to move per turn. Men cannot capture. Only one tiger is used to move or capture per turn. Both tigers and men can only move one space at a time, and follow the pattern on the board.

5. Tigers can capture an "odd number of men (e.g. 1, 3, 5, or 7)". The tiger must be adjacent to the man or men, and hop over them onto a vacant point on the other side. The tiger must hop over them "in a straight line" that follows the pattern on the board. If more than one man is captured in the leap, the men must be "lined up right next to each other with no vacant points in between them". Once a man or a line of men are hopped over and captured, the tiger can no longer capture further or move. Captures are not compulsory.

"The ability of the two tigers to capture more than one man might give an advantage and perhaps even a tremendous advantage to the tigers, and therefore, it is preferable that the tigers be allowed to capture one man only per turn."

6. If the men are reduced to 10 or 11 pieces, the men will usually resign as there is not enough of them to immobilize the two tigers.

Version B:

Similar to Version A except that there are only 22 men, and 8 of which must surround the central point of the board at the beginning. The central point is empty in the beginning. The tiger player also only removes one man in the beginning (as oppose to 3 men in Version A). The man player must drop his or her remaining 14 pieces before he or she can begin to move any of them. Play is exactly the same from here on.

Assymetry of the Game

Rimau-rimau is an assymetric game in that the pieces controlled by one player is different from the pieces controlled by the other player. Tiger pieces can capture whereas men can only simply block the tigers. Furthermore, the number of pieces is different for each player. The tiger player controls the 2 tiger pieces, and the man player controls the 22 or 24 man pieces. Lastly, the goals of each player are different. The goal of the tigers is to eliminate as much men as possible which would prevent the orangs from blocking their movements. However, the goal of the men is to block the movements of the tigers.

Related Games

* Rimau
* Buga-shadara
* Kungser
* Main Tapal Empat
* Bagha-Chall
* Aadu puli attam
* Fox games
* Adugo
* Komikan
* Kaooa

External Links

*http://hem.passagen.se/melki9/asiantiger.htm