Month: September 2025

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Parcheesi Gameplay FAQ

If I roll a five, do I have to move my pawn out of base or can I move a different pawn?  If you roll any variation of five and have a pawn in base, you must move your pawn out of base.

I rolled doubles. Can I move my blockade together as a blockade on a different space?  No. You can never move the same blockade together. You can form a new blockade with different pawns, but you cannot move the same blockade forward.  #SorryNotSorry

My opponent has a blockade on my base’s entry spot. If I roll a five, can I knock my opponent’s pawns back home since they’re on my entry spot?  No. You are blockaded in until that opponent moves the blockade.

I rolled a five but an opponent’s pawn is on my entry spot. Can I come out of base?  Yes! Not only can you come out of base, but you also knock out your opponent. You go Glen Coco!

I have my own blockade on my base’s entry spot. Can I move my pawn out of base if I roll a five?  No. Your blockade prevents a pawn from exiting its base. The blockade must be broken up first. Furthermore, if any blockade, including your own, bars entry, any five you roll which could have led to a pawn’s exit from base is forfeited.

      • EXAMPLE: Two of your pawns are blockading your entry space, and two pawns are in base. You roll a 2 and a 3. Because of the “Sanctity of the Five,” which requires fives to be used by based players, you forfeit the complete roll.
      • EXAMPLE: Two of your pawns are blockading your entry space, and two pawns are in base. You roll double fives. Because of the “Sanctity of the Five,” which requires fives to be used by based players, you forfeit one five which should have been available to one of your based pawns and you forfeit another five which should have been available to the other based pawn. You then roll again in accordance with the doubles rule.
      • EXAMPLE: Two of your pawns are blockading your entry space, and two pawns are in base. You roll a five and a non-five. Because of the “Sanctity of the Five,” which requires fives to be used by based players, you forfeit the five which should have been available to one of your based pawns, and you are required to break up your blockade with the non-five die.
      • EXAMPLE: Two of your pawns are blockading your entry space, and one pawn is in base, and one pawn is elsewhere on the board. You roll a five and a non-five. Because of the “Sanctity of the Five,” which requires fives to be used by based players, you forfeit the five which should have been available to the based pawn, and you are required to use the non-five die to either break up the blockade or move the pawn elsewhere on the board.

If all my pawns are out of base and I rolled doubles but can’t use all fourteen, can I use the face value on the die?  No. It is all or nothing with doubles. You must be able to use all fourteen moves. If you can’t, it’s annoying, but you must forfeit your roll for that turn.

I have a blockade. Can my own pawn move around it?  No. Absolutely not. A blockade is a blockade. No. No one, including you can move around it. No.

I knocked an opponent back to base. Go me! Do I have to take the 20-space bonus if I don’t want to?  Yes, if able, you must always move 20. That rule applies to other bonus moves as well, i.e., the ten-space bonus for reaching home and the fourteen-space doubles bonus.

If I roll three doubles in a row, can I choose which pawn is sent back to base?  No. The closest pawn to home goes back to base. Your pawns already at home are safe.

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Vested Interest and Table Acclamation Prompting

Prompting—Still Not Allowed, But Some Exceptions/Clarifications, and New Process (2019):

Please avoid coaching inexperienced players on possible moves.  Do your best—prior to the start of the game—to answer questions about (1) official Parcheesi rules, (2) Tournament rules, and (3) table rules (e.g., according to your table, must dice rolls be on the board?  Do leaning dice need to be re-rolled? etc. Please try to be as thorough as possible in addressing questions and clarifications prior to the start of the game).

Prompting consists of informing another player of (1) a possible move, or (2) a rule that necessitates/prevents a move.  There are two exceptions to Type 2 (rule informing) prompting, “Vested Interest” and “Table Acclamation” prompting:

Vested Interest prompting occurs when the reminding of the rule brings direct benefit to the person making the reminder (e.g., if a player attempts to use a 5 to capture the prompter’s token, but the player still has a token at base, prompting in this case is allowed, but only by the player in danger of being captured illegally).  In essence, there should be no general reminders of rules as a matter of practice;  we realize this will lead to some sloppy or even illegal play in certain circumstances.

Table Acclamation prompting may occur in cases of very obvious rule infractions (moving the wrong number of spaces, splitting up bonus spaces, taking 14 when a token is at base, etc.).  To make such a prompt, one or more players may acclaim, “You can’t do that!”  Table acclamations should be rare, and in fact, it is much preferable that all Type 2 prompts be handled under the category of Vested Interest prompts.

Procedure for Making Accusations of Prompting and Penalizing Perpetrators

      • The Accusation: When a player (the Accuser) wishes to make an accusation of prompting, the player will say:  “I call PROMPTING—hearing requested.”  The hearing follows automatically.
      • The Hearing: The Accuser explains why the accusation was made.
      • The Judgment: If one other person at the table agrees with the Accuser, PROMPTING has occurred, and the perpetrator of PROMPTING will suffer a penalty, as described below.
      • The Penalty: First offense:  loss of a turn; Second offense:  loss of two turns; Third offense:  furthest token sent back to base (or, if all four tokens are at base, the perpetrator’s next roll of 5 is negated; Fourth offense:  forfeiture of game.

Abuse of the Prompting Accusations/Hearing Process:  A player who believes that competitors have colluded to abuse the Prompting Hearing, Judgment, and Penalty process may request the intervention of the Ruling Committee, whose decisions (including possible forfeiture of players) will be final.

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Prompting

PROMPTING

Prompting is saying something during the course of Parcheesi gameplay to persuade, encourage, or remind another player to make a certain move. If found guilty of prompting, penalties will occur.

If you feel prompting has taken place, stop play. If the table cannot agree on whether prompting occurred, any player from that table may request a ruling from the Ruling Committee. If the Committee agrees that prompting has occurred, the designated penalty will be enacted. (see: “Penalties for Prompting” below).

There are a range of motivations that causes a person to prompt. You may desire to hurt an opponent, or maybe you’re just a nice person who wants everyone to do well—it doesn’t matter.  DON’T DO IT.

That being said, there are situations that warrant speaking up. You have a right to protect your self-interests if an opponent makes an illegal move. Two conditions must be met to allow for a legal prompt:

    1. An opponent executes an illegal move.
    2. That illegal move has a negative impact on the player pointing out the illegal move, i.e., the prompter.

Both of these conditions must be met to constitute a legal prompt.

Penalties for Prompting:

      • First offense: lose a turn
      • Second offense: lose two turns
      • Third offense: closest player to home gets sent to base
      • Fourth offense: …really?

In all disputes, Ruling Committee’s judgment is final and binding.