Pachisi is a traditional Indian race game for four players, each moving four pieces with a single die. A roll of 6 releases a piece from base onto your start square; pieces advance around a shared ring of 68 squares and enter your private home column of 7 squares, reaching the centre only on an exact count. Landing on a single enemy piece on a non-safe square sends it back to base, and every 6 earns an extra roll. The first player to bring all four pieces to the centre wins.
Play now — it's freePachisi is played on a cross-shaped board with four arms: a shared outer ring of 68 squares that pieces travel in one direction, and four private home columns (7 squares per player) leading into the centre, where a piece's journey ends.
Four players compete, each with four pieces in their own colour (red, green, yellow, blue) starting in base. Each player has a dedicated start square, and the four starts are evenly spaced around the ring — 17 squares apart.
One die is used. On your turn you roll, then move one piece by the number rolled if any legal move exists; if nothing can move, the turn passes automatically after the roll is briefly shown.
A 6 is special in every way: it releases a piece from base, it travels farthest, and it earns you another roll in the same turn. There is no cap or penalty on consecutive sixes.
Turns are time-boxed: if a player is slow to roll or move, the engine plays the best available move automatically, so tables never stall. Even a disconnect does not stop the game — AI takes over until the player returns.
A piece enters the board only on a roll of 6: it is placed on your start square, which is a safe square. Until you roll a 6 your pieces wait in base — which is why getting several pieces out early beats relying on a single runner.
The ring has 8 safe squares: the four start squares and the four arm corners. On a safe square nobody is captured, and enemy pieces can share it without harm.
On any ordinary square, landing on a lone enemy piece captures it — the captured piece returns to its base and starts over. So think twice before leaving a piece alone on an ordinary square near enemy pieces.
When two pieces of one colour share a square, that square becomes a blockade: no opponent may land on it. Use blockades to shield your runner just ahead of an opponent that has not yet left base, or to pin down the pieces chasing you. In your private home column there are no captures and no blockades — pieces there are completely safe.
Once a piece has travelled the full ring it turns into your private home column of 7 squares. Only your own pieces enter it, and inside it nothing can capture or block them.
Entering the centre requires the exact count: a roll larger than the remaining distance cannot be used, so the piece waits for the right number — overshooting the centre is not allowed. A piece that reaches the centre stays there for good.
The first player to bring all four pieces into the centre wins. If a match somehow drags on abnormally long, the engine ends it and awards the win to the player whose pieces have advanced the farthest overall — a rare safeguard you will almost never see.
Release your second and third pieces early; a single runner races exposed against three opponents.
Rest on the eight safe squares whenever enemy pieces are behind you.
Park a two-piece blockade in front of an opponent that has not yet escaped base — it stalls them for turns.
Count carefully into the centre: only an exact landing finishes a piece, so plan your rolls before entering the home column.
Four players, each with four pieces in their own colour; everyone plays for themselves until one wins.
A shared ring of 68 squares plus a private 7-square home column per player — 75 steps from a piece's start square to the centre.
Eight squares on the ring: the four start squares and the four arm corners. No captures happen on safe squares.
Release a piece from base onto your start square or move a piece six squares — then roll again in the same turn.
Land on an ordinary (non-safe) square holding a single enemy piece; the captured piece goes back to its base and starts over.
Yes — overshooting the centre is not allowed; a roll bigger than the remaining distance is simply unusable until the right number comes up.
When the first player gets all four pieces to the centre. Abnormally long matches are decided by overall piece progress as a safeguard.
Yes — play Pachisi online free at pachisi.yeeqia.com directly in your browser, no download or sign-up required to try a table.
Yes — the site is mobile-first and runs in any modern Android or iPhone browser; the game interface is available in English and Hindi.
Pachisi is the original Indian game from which the Ludo and Parcheesi family evolved. This version uses one die, four pieces per player, a 68-square ring with safe squares and blockades, and an exact-count finish.