Adugo, also called Jogo da Onça (the jaguar game), is the hunt board game of the Bororo people of Brazil, free to play online against the computer with no download or sign-up. One jaguar faces fourteen dogs on a 5×5 lined board with a triangular den hanging off one side. The jaguar jumps dogs to take them; the dogs can only step, so they have to work as a pack to leave it with no move. Play either side, five levels each, on a phone or a computer.
How to play Adugo
- Choose a side at the top: Jaguar or Dogs. The computer plays the other side, and each side has its own ladder of five levels. The jaguar always moves first.
- The board is a 5×5 grid of points joined by lines, with diagonals through every other point, plus the den: a triangle of six more points hanging below the bottom edge. Pieces move from point to neighbouring point along the lines only.
- The jaguar starts on the centre point and the fourteen dogs fill the half of the board away from the den. On its turn the jaguar steps one point along any line, or jumps a dog next to it when the point straight beyond is empty, taking that dog off. After a jump it may jump again, as often as it can, or stop. Jumping is never compulsory.
- A dog steps one point along any line, in any direction, backwards included. Dogs never jump and never capture. Tap a dog to pick it up, then one of the green dots.
- The jaguar wins by taking five dogs. The dogs win when the jaguar has no move on its turn — usually by pinning it in the den or against an edge with every neighbouring point filled and every dog backed up.
- Two house rules make sure a game ends: the same position with the same side to move coming round a third time is a draw, and so is 160 moves in a row (80 each) without a dog taken. A counter beside the board shows how many quiet moves are left.
- Win a level to open the next one on that side. Hint suggests a move and Undo takes yours back; both still count the win.
Tips
- As the dogs, never leave a dog with an empty point straight behind it on a line the jaguar can reach. A dog backed by another dog, or by the edge of the board, cannot be jumped.
- As the dogs, advance in a straight wall rather than one dog at a time, and drive the jaguar towards the den: its three entrance lines make it the easiest place to close every way out.
- As the jaguar, stay on open ground in the middle where you have eight lines out. Every step into the den or onto an edge point throws away lines the dogs no longer have to cover.
- As the jaguar, look for chains: a jump that lands next to another unguarded dog takes two in one turn. Make a threat on two dogs at once and the pack can only cover one.
- Count the quiet-move counter. With few moves left and no capture in sight the jaguar can play for the draw, and the dogs have to take a risk to finish the trap.
FAQ
Is Adugo free to play online?
Yes. Adugo is free to play here in your browser, against the computer, with no download, no account and nothing to buy. Your progress on each side is saved on your device.
How do you play Adugo (Jogo da Onça)?
One player has the jaguar and the other has fourteen dogs. Both move one point at a time along the lines of the board. The jaguar also captures by jumping a dog next to it onto the empty point beyond, and can chain several jumps in one turn. Dogs only step. The jaguar wins by taking five dogs; the dogs win by surrounding the jaguar so it cannot move.
What is the triangle on the Adugo board for?
The triangle is the den. Its apex joins the middle of one edge of the board, and it adds six points joined by its sides, a line down its middle, a cross line and its base. Its points have only two to four neighbours each, so it is where the dogs most often trap the jaguar — a jaguar that walks into the den is in danger. Its sides run straight on from the board diagonals, so a jaguar can jump along them into and out of it.
Who has the advantage in Adugo, the jaguar or the dogs?
With careful play, the dogs. We played the computer against itself at the same strength on both sides: looking three moves ahead, the dogs won 13 of 24 games and the jaguar none, with 11 drawn; looking four moves ahead, the dogs won 6 and the other 18 were drawn. A pack that never leaves a dog unguarded cannot lose, so the jaguar wins by punishing mistakes — which is why the computer dogs on the jaguar ladder make careless moves, less often at each level.
How strong is the computer?
Every level was measured, not guessed: a strong computer stand-in played 24 games against each level. Playing the jaguar it won 24 games against level 1, the Village dogs, and 5 against level 5, the Pack leaders. Playing the dogs it won 24 against the Cub and 4 against level 5, the Onça, drawing the rest. A weaker stand-in finds each level harder still, and every level gets harder than the one before.
Can the jaguar jump more than once in a turn?
Yes. After a jump the jaguar may jump again from where it landed, as long as there is a dog next to it with an empty point beyond, and it may stop after any jump. Jumps follow the lines, straight over one dog at a time. Capturing is never compulsory, so the jaguar can also turn down a jump that would walk it into a trap.
Is Adugo the same as Fox and Geese?
They are cousins — both are hunt games with one hunter that jumps and many pieces that block — but the boards and rules differ. Fox and Geese is played on a cross-shaped board of 33 points with 13 or 17 geese that may never step backwards. Adugo uses a square 25-point board with a triangular den added, 14 dogs that may move in any direction, and the jaguar needs five captures. Fox and Geese has its own page on this site.
Can a game of Adugo end in a draw?
Traditionally the game simply goes on, so this version adds two house rules to make sure it ends: a draw when the same position with the same side to move comes round a third time, and a draw after 160 moves in a row (80 each) with no dog taken. A draw does not open the next level.
Can I play Adugo on my phone?
Yes. The board is tall and narrow, so it fits a phone held upright, with the controls above it; it also plays sideways and on a computer with a mouse or the keyboard (arrow keys to move the cursor, Enter to pick and move, H for a hint, U to undo).