How to play Shagai Race

Shagai Race is a free browser game based on the ankle-bone horse race that Mongolian families play at Tsagaan Sar. You toss four shagai, move your horse along a track of bones and try to bring it home first. This guide covers the rules of all three game modes, how to play with friends, and a few tips that win races.

The basics: four bones, four sides

Every turn you toss four shagai (sheep ankle bones). Each bone lands on one of four sides: horse, camel, sheep or goat. What you rolled decides how far your horse moves. If you are new to shagai, our page What is shagai? explains the bones and their traditions.

Tap Toss to throw the bones. On a computer you can also press Space to toss and 1 or 2 to choose a horse.

Three ways to race

When you set up a race you pick one of three games. They share the same bones and track, but each feels different.

Two Horses (the skill game)

Two Horses rewards good decisions more than luck, and it is the mode most online players choose.

You race two horses. The first rider to bring both horses home wins.
Toss to bank steps: every horse and every camel is one step. A toss with no horse makes you stumble and you lose the steps you banked this turn.
After a toss, choose which of your horses rides all the banked steps, or toss again to bank more.
Land exactly on a rival's lone horse to knock it back to the start. A horse resting on an ovoo (a sacred cairn on the track) is safe.
When your two horses stand on the same bone they make a pair. Nobody can knock a pair or land on it, so pairs can block the road.
Steady hand: on your first toss of a turn a needle swings across a gauge. Stop it on the gold zone and you may re-flick one bone.
Lucky tosses: four horses give +8, four camels give +6, and four different sides (a blessing) give +4.

Classic (the family game)

Classic is the simplest version, closest to the way young children play at home.

Toss four shagai on your turn.
Your horse moves one bone for every horse side.
No horse side, no move: the next rider tosses.
The race runs until one horse is left. The first one home is the champion, and the last one gets the title Full Belly.

Naadam (push your luck)

Naadam adds the push-your-luck choice to a single-horse race.

Horses and camels each move you one bone.
After a toss, Ride to move now, or Toss again to add more steps.
A toss with no horse makes you stumble and lose this turn's steps.
End your move on a rival's bone to bump it back to its last ovoo. A horse on an ovoo is safe.
Lucky tosses work as in Two Horses: four horses +8, four camels +6, four different sides +4.

Titles at the finish

Shagai Race uses the titles of the real Naadam horse race. The winner is Tümnii ekh ("leader of ten thousand", shown as Champion in English), the riders who finish in the first five are the Airgiin tav (top five), and the last rider home is Bayan khodood, the "full belly", with a friendly wish to win next year. You can read how these titles work at the real festival in Naadam horse racing explained.

Where to play: one phone or many

Alone: race against computer riders. Good for learning the rules.
This phone: up to six riders take turns on one phone, the way families play around one table.
Online with friends: tap Online, then Create room, and send the 4-letter code or link. Friends open the game, tap Online, type the code and join. Each player uses their own phone, wherever they live. The host starts the race when everyone is in. You can race again in the same room as many times as you like.
Quick race: no one to invite? Quick race puts you in a race with other players right away. Computer riders fill any empty seats so you never wait long.

If someone's connection drops during an online race, the game keeps their seat. Opening the game link again brings them straight back into the race.

Tips that win races

Know when to stop. With two or three horses already banked, a stumble costs a lot. Ride and keep what you have.
Toss again when you have little to lose. With one step banked, another toss is cheap and could bring a lucky toss.
Use the ovoo. Ending a move on an ovoo keeps your horse safe from rivals who are close behind.
Make pairs in Two Horses. A pair cannot be knocked back and blocks rivals behind it.
Watch the needle. A good steady hand turns a sheep or goat into another chance at a horse.

Coins, the shop and fair play

Every finished race gives a few coins. Coins buy cosmetic items in the shop: horse coats, dyed bones and new boards. Nothing in the shop changes the odds of a toss. Shagai Race is free to play, needs no account or login, and has no betting.

Play Shagai Race