List of cross and circle games

Cross and circle is a board game design used for race games played throughout the world. The design of most cross and circle games involves a circle divided into four equal portions by a cross inscribed inside it; the classic example of this design is the Korean game Yut. However, the term "cross and circle" is typically widened to include boards that replace the circle with a square, and cruciform boards that collapse the circle onto the cross; all three types are topologically equivalent.

The Indian game Pachisi and its many descendants are perhaps the most well-known of all cross and circle games.^[1] Not all cross and circle games are descended from Pachisi; there are numerous examples of other similar games independently developed in other cultures.

List of games[]

Name	Place of origin	Movement	Notes
Aeroplane Chess	China	Single six-sided die	Features airplane-themed pieces rather than abstract markers.
Aggravation	United States	Single six-sided die	Accommodates up to six players, unlike most cross and circle games.
Ashte kashte	Bengal, India	Four thrown cowry shells	Played on a seven-by-seven grid with four "resting spaces" on which pieces cannot be captured. Players may sit two of their own pieces on one square to block movement of enemy pieces.
	Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria	Six thrown cowry shells	Played on a cross-shaped fabric board.
Chaupar	India	Six thrown cowry shells, or three four-sided long dice	Played on a cross-shaped fabric board.
Coppit	Germany	Single six-sided die	Originally named Fang Den Hut, or Capture the Hat.
Cranium	United States	Single six-sided die rolled after completion of an activity	Players travel a circuit completing various activities in order to advance.
Dayakattai	Tamil Nadu, India	Two four-sided brass long dice	The game is named after the brass long dice used to determine movement.
Headache	United States	Two standard dice within a clear plastic "pop-o-matic" dome in the center of the board.	Unlike most cross and circle games, the object is not to arrive at a "home base", but to mark all of the opponent's pieces with one's own color first.
Edris A Jin	Syria and Lebanon
Jeu des petits chevaux	France	Single six-sided die	In English, the name translates to "the game of little horses," in reference to the game's small horse-shaped pawns.
Kimble	Finland	Two standard dice within a clear plastic "pop-o-matic" dome in the center of the board.	Finnish licensed release of the American game Trouble.
Ludo	England	Single six-sided die	Derived from the Indian game Pachisi, with simplified rules. Sold worldwide under a variety of local names.
Mensch ärgere Dich nicht	Germany	Single six-sided die	In English, the name translates to "do not get angry, man," in reference to the fact that the game involves capturing other players' pawns.
Patolli	Mesoamerica	Five or six thrown marked black beans	Ancient Mesoamerican game played by a variety of Pre-Columbian cultures.
Pachisi	India	Six or seven thrown cowry shells	Has been played in India since at least the 16th century, and is the template for many Western cross and circle games such as Ludo, Parcheesi, and Sorry!.
Parcheesi	United States	Two six-sided dice	American brand-name adaptation of the Indian game Pachisi.
Parchís	Spain	Single six-sided die	License-free Spanish adaptation of the Indian game Pachisi.
Parqués	Colombia	Two six-sided dice	Parqués boards can be adapted to accommodate four, six, or eight players.
Sorry! (game)	England	Cards drawn from a game-specific deck.	The game's title comes from the many ways in which a player can negate the progress of another, while issuing an apologetic "Sorry!"
Tock	Quebec, Canada	Cards played from a hand of standard playing cards	Some playing cards have special functions such as extra movement. Some variations include joker cards.
Trivial Pursuit	Quebec, Canada	Single six-sided die	Players travel around the board answering trivia questions on six different topics, and must correctly answer one from each topic in order to make it to the centre and win the game.
Trouble	United States	Two standard dice within a clear plastic "pop-o-matic" dome in the center of the board.	The game's dice have Arabic numerals rather than the typical pips.
Uckers	England	Two six-sided dice	Primarily played in branches of the British Armed Forces, particularly the Royal Navy, which lays down the official game rules in its regulations.
Wahoo	Appalachia, United States	Single six-sided die	Regional variation of the traditional cross and circle game. Aggravation is a licensed version of the same game.
Yut	Korea	Four thrown marked sticks	Traditional board game associated with Korean New Year.
Zohn Ahl	Great Plains region of the United States	Four thrown marked sticks	Traditional board game of the Native American Kiowa people.
套日古樂	Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China	Six thrown cowry shells	Traditional board game of the Mongols people.
帕爾杰	Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China	Six thrown cowry shells	Traditional board game of the Mongols people.
帕日吉	Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China	Six thrown cowry shells	Traditional board game of the Mongols people.
儒棋	Northern Wei Empire of China	Two dice