Instructions

These puzzles train you in easy and difficult situations that may show up in the old Nordic game Starve the Fox.

The puzzle will tell you which side is to move and what needs to happen for the solution to be accepted. After a correct move, you may need to respond to the reply to get to the solution. After an incorrect move, you get to control both sides if you want to explore why it fails. Note that the solution to the puzzle is not necessarily the globally optimal move.

Rules

The sheep are trying to get into the pen, which is the top centre 3×3 square. Each turn, one sheep can move one step along the lines into an empty point. Sheep can not move down, though.

The foxes are trying to prevent them. Each turn, one fox can move one step along the lines into an empty point, in any direction. A fox can eat a sheep by jumping over it into an empty point two steps straight ahead.

Sheep can trap a fox by getting the fox into a position where the fox has no move available at the end of the turn. If both foxes are trapped, the sheep win. If the pen is filled with 9 sheep, the sheep win. If there are fewer than 9 sheep, or the sheep cannot move, the fox wins.