Parcheesi- Have it Your Way

Landon asked me to play Parcheesi (aka Carteesi) with him, and he had it all set up and ready to go. There were a few Monopoly pieces in the mix but whatever. I set out thinking that I was going to have to teach him Parcheesi rules and watch him wince as I set his players back, or watch him exult as he set mine back. I chose to set the actual Parcheesi rules aside and play it in a more humane way- just count the dice, count the spaces, move your player and land there. Because how long would he want to play this anyway?

The game started off with him playing as tigers and me as elephants. He was having fun, doing great with counting the dice and transferring that number to the player on the board.

Tigers-

We were clearly still in the "rules" mode as I see the dice are in use.

It wasn't long before there were simply no rules being observed at all.

Quickly, the game digressed from a counting game to an animal role-playing game. How can you just clunk animals around the board in a structured manner when all you really want is for them to be in their castles? Their very own color coded castles!

I began the game as an elephant.

I was later changed from an elephant to a bull. You are the "Mommy Bull" and those are your baby bulls. Um-kay. No offense taken, kiddo.

The game was fairly confrontational. I had been worried about the emotional toll the rules of Parcheesi were going to take on my little boy, but this game was much more violent and angry than the makers of Parcheesi ever envisioned. The tigers confronted the Bull Family constantly during the game. Backs arched, muscles rigid, it's ON like Donkey Kong!

After the attacks, the tiger has to go his doctor, the elephant. (There is free healthcare in Parcheesiland.)

And then the entire bull family goes to their doctor, the camel.

Monopoly game pieces also came out of their boxes to play. In case you wondered what the Bull Family does for a living, they own a VW dealership (?) because the Monopoly cannon piece with the wagon wheel on it reminded him of the VW symbol I guess.

And then the Bulls got dressed up for something fancy. An after fight party perhaps?

That's what we did for a really long time some morning last week.

It was fun to see him veer off into his own little world, making his own age appropriate rules that suited him (and him only).

The funny thing is that he still thought he was playing "Parcheesi/Carteesi" just because he was playing on the board.