Pachisi

Cast a handful of cowrie shells and race four pawns around the great ring and home to the centre — but watch for captures along the way.

How to play

Pachisi is a traditional Indian cross-and-circle race game. Each side has four pawns that travel a 52-cell perimeter ring and then turn up a private home column to the centre. Cast six cowrie shells each turn, choose a value from the cast, and move a pawn — the first player to bring all four pawns safely home wins.

• Six cowries give a move of 1 to 6 (all shells face-down counts as 6).
• A 1 or a 6 is a grace: you cast again, and only a grace can bring a pawn out of the starting yard.
• Landing on a lone enemy on an unsafe square sends it back to its yard and earns you another cast.
• The eight starred castle squares are safe — pawns there can't be captured.
• Each pawn must reach the centre by exact count; bring all four home to win.

Game modes

• Vs computer: easy, medium, or hard, with results ranked per difficulty.
• Hot-seat: two players take turns on the same screen.
• Online: create an invite, join with a code, or quick-match a live opponent on a shared cast.

Controls

• Desktop: click Cast the cowries, pick a value chip, then click a highlighted pawn to move it.
• Phone & tablet: tap to cast, tap a value, then tap a glowing pawn — legal pawns are outlined in gold.

Tips & strategy

• Use graces to free new pawns early so you always have a move worth making.
• Park vulnerable pawns on castle squares when an enemy is closing in.
• Save small casts for the exact final step into the centre rather than overshooting.

Origins

Pachisi is the great cross-and-circle race game of India, played for centuries on cloth boards laid out like a plus sign. By Mughal times it was a courtly passion — the emperor Akbar is said to have played on garden-sized boards using people as the pieces. Carried abroad, it became the ancestor of Ludo and the Western game Parcheesi.

About Pachisi

Pachisi is a centuries-old cross-and-circle race game from India, the forerunner of many modern board-game chases. This is an original, free browser version with cowrie casts, castle safe-squares, captures, and an exact-centre finish — no download or sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium — no download, no install. Browse all games →