How to Play Patolli

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Patolli is a two-player race-and-capture game played on a cross-shaped board divided into squares. Each player controls six stones and races them around the track using cast beans as randomisers. The blend of pure chance and tactical placement gives it a lively back-and-forth feel that keeps both players engaged from the first throw to the last.

The game is typically played on a mat or board marked with the cross pattern, either drawn on cloth or cut into a more durable surface. Its combination of gambling tradition, simple components, and fast decisions makes it an appealing choice for kitchen tables, classrooms, and games-night collections alike.

A little history

Patolli is documented among the Aztec and other Mesoamerican peoples at the time of Spanish contact in the early sixteenth century. Spanish friars, including Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, recorded it in some detail, noting that it was played with considerable ceremony and often accompanied by wagering of goods. Its origins before that period are unclear; some researchers have proposed connections to much older board games found elsewhere in the Americas, but the evidence for any direct lineage remains contested. What is widely accepted is that it was a prominent recreational and ritual activity in pre-Columbian central Mexico.

Setting up

1. Place the board flat between both players, oriented so that the cross arms point towards and away from each player.
2. Each player takes six stones of their chosen colour.
3. Place all twelve stones off the board to one side; no stones begin on the track.
4. Set the five beans within easy reach of both players.
5. Decide who throws first; traditionally the first player to cast a non-zero total with the beans begins.

How to play

1. On your turn, cast all five beans onto the playing surface. Each bean showing its marked (white) face scores one point. Count the total marked faces to determine your move number.
2. If all five beans land with the unmarked face up, scoring zero, you score ten and move a stone ten squares.
3. If all five beans show the marked face, scoring five, you score five and immediately take another turn.
4. Choose one of your stones to move. If you have no stones on the board, you must enter a new stone. A stone may only enter the board when you throw a one, and it is placed on the designated entry square for your side.
5. Move the chosen stone forward by exactly the number of squares indicated by your throw. Movement is in one continuous direction around the board following the prescribed track; stones may not move backwards.
6. If your stone lands on a square already occupied by one of your own stones, the move is not allowed; you must choose a different stone or, if no legal move exists, forfeit your turn.
7. If your stone lands on a square occupied by an opponent's stone, the opponent's stone is removed from the board and must re-enter from scratch as if it were new.
8. Certain marked squares on the board are safe squares (traditionally indicated by a distinctive mark). A stone resting on a safe square cannot be captured.
9. Certain squares are scoring squares. When a stone passes over or lands on a designated scoring square, your opponent must pay you one stone or one agreed token from the wager pool, depending on the rules variant in use.
10. A stone completes the race when it travels around the entire cross and returns to its starting corner. Remove it from the board; it counts as finished.
11. Play passes to the opponent after each turn, except when a five is thrown as noted above.

Winning and scoring

The winner is the first player to move all six of their stones completely around the board and off at the finish point. In the gambling variant that is historically documented, the winner takes all wagered goods. In a points version, players tally one point per stone finished and additional points for scoring-square bonuses during play; the player with the highest total when all stones are off the board wins.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns entering new stones: a stone may only be entered on a throw of exactly one, and if a player has unplaced stones but throws a number other than one and has no legal move for any stone already on the board, the turn is simply lost. A player may never voluntarily skip entering a stone to gain a positional advantage; if a one is thrown and all entry squares are clear, a new stone must be entered unless the entry square is occupied by the opponent, in which case the throw may be applied to an existing stone instead.

Safe squares protect only the stone already resting there; a second friendly stone arriving at that square does not gain protection and the move is illegal if the only stone that could use it would have to stack. Disputes about bean throws are resolved by a simple re-throw if any bean has landed touching another bean or is not flat on the surface; this is the standard ruling and should be agreed before play begins.

How to win more often

• Get stones onto the board early. A stone in hand scores nothing and cannot threaten the opponent, so use every throw of one to bring a new piece into play.
• Aim to occupy safe squares whenever possible, particularly if your stone is close to a cluster of the opponent's pieces; safety guarantees you cannot lose ground on that stone.
• Spread your stones along the track rather than clustering them. A spread formation means the opponent cannot knock out two pieces in one lucky run, and you are more likely to have a legal move after any given throw.
• When you are ahead, prioritise finishing stones over capturing the opponent's pieces. Each finished stone is permanently safe and brings victory closer.
• Track which squares your opponent is approaching. If a throw gives you a choice of captures, take the opponent's stone that is furthest advanced, since removing a nearly finished piece costs them the most.

Variations

Gambling Variant

This is the form most fully documented in sixteenth-century sources. Before play begins each player stakes a quantity of goods, traditionally items such as blankets, food, or ornaments. Scoring squares on the board trigger immediate small payments during play, and the player who finishes all their stones first collects the entire stake. Agreeing the stakes and the value of scoring-square payments before the first throw is essential.

Four-Bean Version

Some reconstructions use four beans rather than five, reducing the maximum throw to four and removing the ten-point bonus for all blanks. This slows the game, increases the relative weight of tactical positioning, and is sometimes preferred for younger players or shorter sessions. Movement and capture rules remain identical.

Extended Track

A variant played on a larger cross with additional squares in each arm increases the number of safe and scoring squares proportionally. This extends playing time and rewards patience, since the longer route gives more opportunity for captures and recovery after being sent back to start. It suits players who want a more strategic session rather than a quick race.

Single-Stone Race

Each player uses only one stone instead of six. The first player to complete a full circuit wins. All other rules remain the same. This stripped-down form is useful for teaching the movement and capture rules to new players before introducing the full six-stone game, and produces a complete game in ten to fifteen minutes.

Patolli: frequently asked questions