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.
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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.
