Parcheesi

Parcheesi

Synopsis of Toy

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.

Release History of Toy

1867 - Parcheesi marketed woldwide

Sub Categories of Toys

games
board games

Toy and Game Manufacturer

Milton Bradley

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