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Both Parcheesi and Sorry are the westernized versions of the traditional Indian gave ‘Pachisi’ which gained favor with the royalty in medieval India.
Parcheesi is the elder offspring of the Pachisi which was introduced in 1869 by E.G Schelow and Company. The American version of Sorry board game, which was derived by twisting the rules of Parcheesi, was first published in 1934 by Parker brothers.
Both games have managed to capture the imagination of board gamers for decades now, and their variants and new editions promise to boggle the minds of yet another generation of board gamers.
Parcheesi is a board game that works with a set of dice and can be played by two to four players .It has a game board with four corner spaces and four home paths which lead to the common home spot.
The objective of the game for the players is to transport all their four pawns to the home spot faster than everybody else. All the pawns have to make a journey through the board before they can roll on to the red carpet, or in this case, the red ramp to the home spot.
To get your pawns on the board, you have to roll either a five on one of the die or roll two numbers equaling five on the pair of dice. The game continues with the players moving their pawns according the number rolled on the dice.
Your intuition comes into play when you make a decision to play both the numbers that are visible on the dice pair on a single pawn or use one die number on a single pawn, while using the second die number on the other pawn that is in game.
If you land on the pawn of any other player, you can kiss it goodbye to its starting pace.
You are also granted certain blue spaces on the board, where if you manage to land two your pawns in this space, you manage to create a ‘blockade’. This means none of the other players will be able to move their pawns past this point, unless you choose to move one of your pawns out of the blockade.
The Sorry game, on the other hand, is a game where the sorry cards replace the dice. Parker brothers simplified the rules of Parcheesi to invent the ‘Sorry game’ and hence certain similarities in the game are not coincidental.
The board again allows the play of two to four people who are granted four pawns which they have to move around the board clockwise.
However, unlike Parcheesi where your ultimate destination is a common communal space, the Sorry game provides each player with a separate home base from where they begin and return to.
The game starts when the player gets a ‘1’, ‘2’ or ‘sorry card’. Consequent cards drawn allow the players to move the pawns accordingly.
If you land on another player’s pawn, the other player’s pawn winds up in its starting space. If you get a ‘sorry card’, you can take a pawn from your start space, use it to replace a enemy pawn that is on the board and send it back to its start space. Along with this, you can treat your opponent to a cheeky and not-so-heartfelt sorry.
Hence to compare these two games which share a common bloodline, we have to get into its intricacies. Following are a few pointers to get you our insights into the two games.
Parcheesi vs Sorry Board Game: Comparison
The Pace of the race
Sorry is a child-friendly game, primarily because its pace can match the attention span of children. So while your Parcheesi game may get you to move a few extra spaces, it is no match for our Sorry Slidey space, which allows the pawn which lands on it to slide right to the end of it.
Also you don’t always need the exact number to get to the home space. You can use the ‘back’ card to get a strategic retreat or ‘7’ card to split the numbers to your advantage.
Thus the game moves at a faster and simpler pace than Parcheesi, where a blockade can really prolong the bout.
The Rule Complexity degree
Parcheesi has rules which have a certain degree of complexity in comparison to Sorry. Again, two pawns on a square can create a blockade. The board is filled with “safe spaces” with its own set of rules.
You role a double number once, you get a second chance. You roll a double twice; you get to use the numbers at the bottom of the dice as well. Three times is not a charm in this game, because it sends one of your pawns to the starting space.
Sorry, on the other hand, as mentioned above, is a simplified version of Parcheesi. You can bump pawns across the board and your only ‘safe space’ is in front of your home space. The rules are much simpler and easy to comprehend and we won’t say sorry for that!!
The Target Audience
There is an adult version of sorry board game as well as different versions of Parcheesi. However, Sorry is primarily targeted at younger minds and has been designed to suit their psyche. Even the aesthetic of the board has loud, playful colors to visually appeal to the children.
Parcheesi, likewise, is a variation of Pachisi with adults as a target audience in mind. Hence, the dice replace the cards. And the rules are upgraded to challenge a fully habituated board game enthusiast’s mind.
Exploring the Editions
The many editions and crossover of Sorry game are a bewitching experience. From the Disney and Simpsons version to the’ Sorry-Not Sorry’ versions, the Parker brothers have been spinning one after delightful version of the game.
There is even a Road Trip version for a handy game of sorry.
Parcheesi too has its different versions, but the many editions of Sorry game take this cake.
To sum it up, both these games are an absolute delight that has stood the test of time and fierce competition from various other versions of the Pachisi game.
There charisma can charm all age groups. However, if you put us in a tight spot, we will recommend Parcheesi for our adult fans for the slight complexities of its rules and Sorry for the millennial generation of board gamers for its simplicity and visual appeal.
To leave you with a parting tip, one board gamer to another, you can tweak the rules of both the games and introduce new cards to add to their excitement level. For example, you can partner with the other player, to make Sorry a game between two teams or play Parcheesi according to who achieves a level of score the fastest.