Parcheesi is a brand name American adaptation of the Indian Cross and Circle game Pachisi. Created in India perhaps as early as 500 AD, the board game is subtitled Royal Game of India because royalty played using color-costumed members of their harems as pieces on large outdoor boards. Such a court is preserved at Fatehpur Sikri (image at right). The game and its variants are known worldwide; for example, a similar game called Parchís is especially popular in Spain, and Parqués is a Colombian variant. A version is available in the United Kingdom under the name of Ludo.

Parcheesi is played with one or two dice and the goal of the game is to move each of one's pieces home to the center space. The most popular Parcheesi boards in America have 72 spaces around the board, twelve of which are darkened safe spaces where a piece cannot be captured.

Each player selects four pieces of the same color and places them in their "nest," or starting area. The board game should be positioned so that each player's nest is to his right. Pieces enter play onto the darkened space to the left of the nest and continue counter-clockwise around the board to the home path directly in front of the player.