Parcheesi
It is not uncommon for people to outgrow a favorite board game as they
move from childhood to adulthood. Just the same, some games continue be
popular with players, remaining as fun and challenging to adult players
as they are to children. Welcome to the world of Parcheesi, a classic
game of strategy has been a worldwide family board-game institution for
several decades.
Parcheesi (a.k.a. Pachisi) is the National Game of India, the
country of its origin back in the 4th century A.D. The name is derived
from the Indian word “pacis,” which means “twenty-five.” This number is
significant because it represents the highest score that can be thrown
with the dice in Parcheesi. The game made its way over to the United
States sometime during the mid-1800’s and was first copyrighted by
James Hamilton. He sold this copyright to the game company Selchow and
Righter, who trademarked the game and began selling it far and wide.
Parcheesi is a four-player game. Each player receives a set of
colored sets of pawns (red, yellow, blue and green) and a pair of dice.
All four players start in their own corner of the game board. Each
takes turns rolling their dice, and the first to roll a five gets to
move his pawns first. As each person takes his turn, he move the pawns
up and down a series of four rows on the board. The objective is to
move all four pawns around the board in a counterclockwise fashion so
they can return ‘home’ (the center of the board). When a pawn returns
home, the player gets a bonus of ten spaces to use on another pawn. If
all ten spaces can’t be used at once, they must be forfeited.
Each player must look out for the other three, because they can
‘knock’ a player’s pawn back to its starting place by rolling the score
that allows them to land in that space. If a player successfully knocks
another player's pawn out, the knocker is allowed to move twenty free
spaces. However, if all twenty spaces can't be used at once, they must
be surrendered. There are two ways to avoid getting one’s pawn sent
back home: The first is to land the pawn in one of the “safe spaces”
that occurs every 5 to 7 spaces on the board. The other is to form a
blockade by putting two pawns on the same space. This can only be done
if the player’s other two pawns are free to be moved around.
As more pawns enter the board, the complexity of Parcheesi
increases. Once a player gets all four pawns on the board, they are
allowed use the top and bottom of the dice score they roll if they roll
a double. For instance, if a player rolls two fives, they are allowed
to uses the fives, as well as the twos on the other side of the fives.
They can split the value of the roll between two pawns any way they
want so long as the total amount of spaces moved adds up to the doubled
value of the score rolled. Just the same, a player must careful how
many doubles they roll: if they roll three in a row, they must send
their pawn that is closest to home back to its starting place.
Today, Parcheesi remains as popular as ever. As the joy of
Parcheesi is passed from generation to generation, it continues to sell
steadily at toy stores and remains a vital part of the board-game stash
for countless families around the world. As long as families need a
game that everyone can enjoy, Parcheesi will continue to win people
over with its age-defying combination of fun and challenges.
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