List of Important Safety Zone Rules in Sorry Board Game

There are few board games that engage children and adults alike. “Sorry,” a Pachisi-type board game by Hasbro Games does just that. The game, which includes up to 4 people, engages you in a race with four pieces you have on the board to get to their “home” spaces. The game follows suit by each player taking turns drawing a card from a deck with instructions on how many squares to move and in which direction. The goal is to let all your pieces reach home before the others.

The board has a set of squares known as the “Safety zone,” which has some peculiar properties that can provide an advantage to the player. So let’s look at what the “Safety Zone” actually is and then discuss its governing rules.

Understanding The Safety Zone

The safety zone is a region in the board where other players can’t bump your pieces. There are four safety zones in total, one for each player, in their own designated color. The safety zone is situated just beside the entrance point. It consists of 5 subsequent squares, which leads to the endpoint; the home square.

Here are the rules of the safety zone that one should be aware of while playing the game.

Rule no: 1: You can’t enter the safety zone using a backward move.

Since the safety zone and the home space lies right behind the entry point, you may think of entering the safety zone if you pull a backward card right at the start. But, this is against the rules. However, you may move further back from your starting point and the safety zone entry point and then move forward in another turn to the safety zone. This set of moves can help you avoid going around the board and encounters with the other players.

 Rule no: 2: You can’t enter another player’s safety zone.

You can only enter the safety zone of the color of the pieces you are playing with. This is an excellent way of saving your pieces from other pieces bumping them to the start while nearing the end of the game. In the safety zone, you can wait while the correct number appears to you to move to the safety zone.

 Rule no. 3: You can’t slide your way into the home zone.

There are many slides throughout the board, which can be used to gain many squares and to bump all opponent pieces in the slide. The safety zone leading to the home space also looks like a slide, but it’s not. You can move your piece only the number of squares you get from the cards.

Rule no. 4: You can reach the home straight, only if you draw the correct card.

Suppose you are in the safety zone, and you are only a square away from the home square. And if you draw a two from the cards, you’ll either have to move another piece that can make a move or forfeit yours. You need to have the correct number on the card to get to the home square.

Exception: If you draw a seven-card, you’ll have an option to split the moves between any two pieces. If this happens, you can use it to move the piece inside the safety zone, only if you can complete the rest of the moves with other pieces on the board.

Rule no. 5: You are only safe as long as you are inside the safety zone.

If you enter the safety zone, this grants you immunity from other people bumping that piece. But, if you move your piece back outside the safety zone, your piece can be taken out by others. So, the immunity lasts only while you are in the safety zone.

This is to be considered and often comes to play when you have only one piece left in the game and draw a backward card.

Rule no. 6: You can’t have two of your pieces in the same square.

This is a general rule and applies to every square in the game. You can’t have two pieces in the same square if you draw a card, where you land a piece in the same spot as another. There are two scenarios.

Case I: If the second piece is an opponent piece, you bump it back to its start position, thereby erasing that piece’s progress.

Case II: If the second piece is yours, you can either move a different piece, or if that isn’t possible, you forfeit your turn.

Since the opponent pieces can’t enter your safety zone, only case 2 applies.

Rule no. 7: You can’t use a sorry card to swap with a piece that is in the safety zone.

The sorry card in the game has a unique property that lets you swap your pieces with an opponent’s piece. This is mainly advantageous when your opponent’s piece is near your safety zone. But you can’t swap your opponent’s piece when it is in the safety zone. This is because you can’t enter the safety zone of another player, which is mentioned in rule 2.

 Rule no. 8: If you have a playable move, you have to play it.

This is a general rule for the entire game. You can’t forfeit a move because you don’t want to play it. If there is a legal move that can be played for the card drawn, it should be played. This applies to the safety zone too. You can’t skip a move waiting for a better card. If you are in the safety zone and get a backward card, you have to move back out of the safety zone.

Wrapping Up,

This article discussed the “Safety Zone” of the board game “Sorry.” These rules help in having a streamlined play of the game and avoiding unnecessary confusion. The game itself is pretty engaging and quite unpredictable since the game can change with the draw of one card.