Multiplayer Pachisi

This game is played by 4 or 2 players, when played by 4 players, each of the players occupy one side of the board, and the players sitting opposite to each other are partners, when the game is played by 2 players, then each player controls the two opposite sides of the board. The object of the game is to move all the 4 pieces down one arm, then around the outer perimeter, and then back up the arm back to the center square. The team who moves all the pieces back to the center square first wins the game. Instead of dice, 6 cowrie shells are used, and the number of shells with their face up indicates the number to move: 2 - 5 face up shells = 2 - 5 steps; 6 face up shells = grace move with 6 steps; 1 face up shells = grace move with 10 steps; 0 face up shells = grace move with 25 steps. At first, the players shall throw to determine who moves first, the player with the highest number thrown moves first, and play proceeds in the counter clockwise direction. For each player, the first piece can be entered into the board using any move, but for other pieces, a grace move must be made. Throwing a grace move also means that the player can throw again. When a piece enters a place occupied by the pieces of another team, those pieces are captured and must return to the center square to start again, the capturing player also gets an extra move. However, if the opposing pieces are on a castle tile, then the pieces are safe and cannot be captured and you cannot move to that tile. Teamwork in this game is critical and the team must work together in order to win. A player can move his piece around the perimeter more than once in order to help his partner's pieces; he can also ignore his throw and pass to another player without moving any of his pieces. When going back to the center square, an exact throw is needed.