Sorry! (game)

Infobox_Game
subject_name=Sorry!
image_link=
image_caption=Older Sorry! board with diamond spaces
designer=
publisher=Parker Brothers
players=2–4
ages=
setup_time= 1–5 minutes
playing_time=
complexity=Low
strategy=Medium
random_chance=Medium
skills=Counting, Tactics, Strategy, Probability
bggid=2407
bggxrefs=t
footnotes =

"Sorry!, the slide pursuit game" is a board game based on pachisi, sold by Parker Brothers.

History

The earliest variation of today's Sorry! can be traced back to England, shortly before its arrival in the United States. Sorry! was adopted by Parker Brothers in 1934, and has remained in their possession since. It is an American hallmark board game, being played by generations of Americans, as well as throughout the world.

Versions

*Sorry Nostalgia First version with diamonds, a version with a different board, wood parts and in a collector's box can only be bought in Amazon.com
*Sorry!: Family Game Night Edition
*Sorry!: The Disney Edition
*Sorry! Card Revenge! Edition
*Sorry!: The Simpsons
*Sorry! Fun on the Run! Edition
*Sorry Express!
*Sorry!: The "Spider-Man 3" Edition
*Pokémon Sorry!
*Hasbro's Classics: Sorry! Limited edition, contained a new box and with diamonds.
*Sorry! Disney's Splash Mountain Theme Park Collector's Edition Had a collectible tin
*Sorry! Sliders!
*Shakin' Sorry!: Dice'n'Grab Edition
*Shakin' Sorry! Had a collectible Sorry Keychain
*Hasbro Adventure!: The Action Pack Also had the games Twister, Connect Four and Trouble.
*Sorry! The Greatest Hits: The FULL Pack! Had 5 editions of the game, chosen randomnly

Objective

Each player has his or her own "start" location and "home" location. The objective is to be the first player to get all four pawns from the start square to the home square. Sorry! is played by drawing cards instead of rolling dice. The pawns are normally moved in a clockwise direction, but can be moved backward, if directed. Moving a pawn backward can occasionally be to one's advantage.

Rules

Each player chooses four pawns of one color and one player is selected to play first.

Each player in turn draws one card from the stack and follows its instructions. To begin the game, all of a player's four pawns are restricted to Start; only a 1, 2! card can release them to the rest of the board. Playing a 1 or a 2 places a pawn on the space directly outside of start; playing a 2 does not entitle the pawn to a second space (this is ambiguous on the 2007 Hasbro link instructions and the card instructions, but is explicit in the 1972 Sorry! game instructions).

Two pawns cannot occupy the same square. A pawn that lands on a square occupied by another "bumps" that pawn back to its own Start. In most cases, players cannot bump their own pawns back to start. If the only way to complete a move would result in a player bumping themselves, the player just loses their turn.

If a pawn lands at the start of a slide (except those of its own color), it immediately moves to the last square of the slide. All pawns anywhere on the slide (including those of the same color, and including pawns on the "end spots" of the slide) are sent back to their respective Starts.

The last five squares before home are the "safety zone". Access is limited to those pawns of the same color. Pawns inside the zone are immune to any form of forced movement from other players such as Sorry! cards. However, forced backward moves can cause a pawn to exit the zone, and a pawn can only enter home upon exact count: an 8 is unplayable when there are only 3 spaces remaining, for example.

Cards and function

There are five cards marked with the number 1 and four cards marked with each number from 2 to 12. There are no 6s or 9s. There are also four "Sorry!" cards. Cards are annotated with the following actions:

Diamond space

Older versions of Sorry! contain a "diamond space" directly one space back from the start square. This allowed the opportunity for a "10" card to be used in its variation of "one space backwards", thus allowing a freshly entered piece to move backwards one space and onto the diamond. However, once on the diamond, that piece was not allowed to move forward except by force of an opponent's Sorry! or "11" card. That piece would have to remain on the diamond square until the drawing of a 4, 10 (which would be a forced "one space backwards"), or 11 (which would be a forced "switch"). It was always subjected to an opponent's Sorry! or "11 - Switch", and likewise was sent back to start if an opponent landed on the diamond square. Thus, players could pass over other opponents' diamond squares, but never their own.

According to the included rules in several newer editions, the directions state that a player may enter their safety zone by drawing a 4 or 10 card, and moving a fresh piece backwards accordingly. However, a 10 card, moving one space backward, will not allow entry to the safety zone, and is still subject to a forced move. One would need to draw two 10 cards to move a piece into the front of the safety zone.

The original English rules stated that a pawn could not pass over the diamond square (of its own colour). This would seem pretty obvious since otherwise it would be going round again rather than going to "HOME," but it could conceivably be desirable if you could land on someone else's pawn who had nearly won. This did not prevent reaching the diamond square by means of a 10 card, backwards from the "START" square, but later being forced to move forward because no other move was available. As the pawn had not passed onto the square in the forward direction, it had not passed over the square; rather it had reversed onto it.

See also

*Aggravation (game)
*Kimble (board game)
*Ludo (board game)
*Parcheesi
*Sorry! (video game)
*Trouble (board game)

External links

* [http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/sorry.pdf Scan of Sorry! rules at hasbro.com]
*bgg|2407|Sorry!