Pachisi, board game, sometimes called the national game of India. Four players in opposing partnerships of two attempt to move pieces around a cross-shaped track. Moves are determined by throws of cowrie shells or dice. Each player has four pieces, which begin at the centre space, move down the middle track nearest the player, and counterclockwise around the outer track of the board. The partnership whose pieces first complete the course by returning to the centre space is the winner.
Marked squares along the course represent castles in which the occupying pieces cannot be captured. An occupied castle is open to the player’s other pieces or those of his partner but closed to those of his opponents. Pieces resting on other squares are captured and sent back to the centre to begin again if an opposing piece lands on the square they occupy.