PACHISI
The Royal Game of Ancient India
Round1
TurnRed
Time0:00
Status
Press Roll to start!
Cowrie Shells
—
6 cowrie shells
Players
Game Log

Your Pachisi Statistics

0
Played
0
Won
0%
Win Rate
—
Fastest Win
0
Captures
0
Win Streak

About Pachisi

Pachisi is one of humanity's oldest known board games, originating in India around the 4th–6th century AD. Its name comes from the Hindi word pacīs — meaning twenty-five — the highest value achievable when rolling six cowrie shells. The Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great played a famous life-size version at Fatehpur Sikri in the 16th century, using slave girls as living pieces on a giant cross-shaped courtyard.

Pachisi is the direct ancestor of Ludo, Parcheesi, and Sorry! — among the most popular board games of the modern era. Unlike its descendants, Pachisi retains considerably deeper strategy: asymmetric entry points, safe squares, capture mechanics, grace rolls, and the punishing cost of losing a pawn already deep into the board.

How to Play

  1. Goal: Move all four of your pawns from your Home Yard, clockwise around the outer track, up your Home Column, and into the Central Castle before your opponents.
  2. Cowrie dice: Six cowrie shells are thrown. Count the shells landing open-side up: 1–5 open = move that many steps. All 6 open = Pachisi (25) — move 25 and roll again! All closed (0) = move 6 and roll again.
  3. Entering play: A pawn may leave the Home Yard if you roll 3 or more open shells (value 3, 4, 5), a grace roll of 6 (all closed), or Pachisi (all 6 open = 25). It enters the track at your colour's starting square.
  4. Movement: Move any pawn clockwise around the outer track; at your colour's gate square, pawns enter your coloured Home Column leading straight to the Castle.
  5. Safe squares: Yellow starred squares are safe — no captures can happen there. Two or more pawns of the same colour on any square form an invincible blockade.
  6. Captures: Landing on an opponent's lone pawn on an unsafe square sends it back to their Yard — and earns you a bonus roll!
  7. Winning: Bear all four pawns into the Castle (exact roll needed for final entry). First player to do so wins.

Strategy Tips

  • Stack defensively: Two pawns on the same square cannot be captured — create stacks on dangerous stretches to protect your pieces.
  • Chase the bonus roll: Capturing earns an extra throw. Hunting stragglers aggressively when behind can swing the whole game quickly.
  • Safe squares are staging posts: Park pawns on starred squares to regroup before dangerous open stretches of the track.
  • Spread your pawns: Don't advance a single pawn to the exclusion of others — a spread means you always have a playable move regardless of the roll.
  • Delay entry carefully: If opponents are clustered near your entry square, delay a new pawn rather than walking into a waiting capture.
  • Grace rolls are powerful: Rolling 6 or Pachisi (25) gets you a free extra throw — time entry or long jumps to exploit them.