Coming soon
Pachisi
The Indian cowrie-shell board game, played by its real rules.
Pachisi is the game Ludo was flattened out of, and this is the original. Six cowrie shells instead of a die. Castles instead of a protected home lane. Pieces that pair up and travel as one. Play it offline against three levels of computer opponent, or pass the phone around for two or four players — on a board that keeps the rules the West left behind.
How a throw works
| Shells landing mouth-up | You move |
|---|---|
| 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 | that many |
| 1 | 10 — throw again |
| 0 | 25 — the pachis the game is named for — throw again |
A 6, 10 or 25 is a grace: another throw, and a new pawn may enter. Throws stack up and are spent one at a time, each moving one pawn. Three identical graces in a row and the whole turn is wiped.
What's inside
- Six cowrie shells, thrown the way the game was actually played — no dice, no Ludo shortcuts.
- The real ruleset: castles, grace throws, and doubled pieces that must move as a single unit.
- Offline computer opponents at three difficulties. No account, no internet, no lobby to wait for.
- Two players or four on one phone, in classic teams — everyone's name and numbers turn to face their own side of the board.
- A five-lesson course played on the real board, not a wall of text — shells, castles, capture, the road home, doubled pieces.
- English and हिन्दी.
- Save mid-match and pick it up exactly where you left it.
- Every colour also has its own shape, so the board reads without relying on colour.
Isn't this just Ludo?
Ludo is a Victorian simplification of Pachisi, patented in England in 1896 with most of the game taken out. Here's what came back:
- Shells, not a die. Six cowries give 2–6, 10 and 25 — a spread no die can make.
- No protected home lane. Ludo gives you a corridor nothing can touch; Pachisi gives you castles instead.
- Castles. Marked squares where a pawn simply cannot be taken.
- Doubled pieces. Two of your pawns on one square lock together and move as one — and only a pair or better can take them.
- An exact count home. You cannot overshoot; the last square before home is a trap that no throw can leave.
- Counter-clockwise, the way it has always been played.
Questions
- Is it free?
- Yes, supported by ads. No purchases, no subscriptions.
- Does it need internet?
- No. Every mode works fully offline; ads simply don't load.
- Can I play with friends?
- Two or four players on one device, passing the phone around. There is no online multiplayer in this version.
- I don't know the rules.
- The app teaches them in about three minutes, on a real board, one move at a time.
com.g1mishra.pachisi