Cross and circle games

Cross and circle is a board game design used for race games played throughout the world.

Strictly, the design comprises a circle divided into four equal portions by a cross inscribed inside it; the classic example of this design is Yut. However, the term "cross and circle" is typically taken 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. Ludo and Parcheesi (both descendants of Pachisi) are frequently played cruciform games.

The category may also be expanded to include circular or square boards without a cross which are nevertheless quartered (Zohn Ahl), and boards that have more than four "spokes" (Aggravation, Trivial Pursuit). The Aztec game board for Patolli consists of a collapsed circle without an interior cross and thus has the distinction of being a cross that is a circle (topologically), without being a cross plus circle.

Tokens are moved around spaces drawn on the circle and on the cross, with the goal of being the first player to move all tokens all the way around the board. Generally the circle of the cross and circle forms the primary circuit followed by the players' pieces. The function of the cross is more variable; for example, in Yut the cross forms shortcuts to the finish, whereas in Pachisi the four "spokes" are used as player-specific exits and entrances to the pieces' home. In non-race games (like Coppit and Trivial Pursuit) all paths may be undifferentiated in function.

Although these board game designs may be of considerable antiquity, firm evidence is sparse. The most ancient board games were dated back to BC 3500 in the time of Ruler King Bharata of ancient India and are corroborated in details in University of California, Davis and extensive research by BORI, Pune. Noted writer and historian Gilles. Schaufelberger and Aaron Rester notes most of the board and dice games back to ancient India. For cruciform boards, the monumental Pachisi or Chaupat boards of the Moghul ruler Akbar (1542–1605), designed to accommodate humans as playing pieces, "still represent the earliest secure evidence for the existence of the game in India."Culin found evidence for a Nyout-like game existing in China in the 3rd century AD, though this does not seem to be accepted by H. J. R. Murray. Mayan cross and circle boards have been found on stones from the 7th century AD. Although frequently encountered among the native tribes of North America (particularly as a "quartered circle" design) these boards were not made of durable materials, so generally the writings and collections of European-Americans constitute their earliest attestations.

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