Patolli (in Nahuatl languages paˈtoːlːi/) or patole (pronounced as /es/) is one of the oldest known games in America. It was a game of strategy and luck played by commoners and nobles alike. It was reported by the conquistadors that Moctezuma Xocoyotzin often enjoyed watching his nobles play the game at court.
Patolli and its variants were played by a wide range of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures and were known all over Mesoamerica: it was played by the Teotihuacanos (the builders of Teotihuacan, ca. 200 BC - 650 AD), the Toltecs (ca. 750 - 1000), the inhabitants of Chichen Itza (founded by refugee Toltec nobles, ca. 1100 - 1300), the Aztecs (who claimed Toltec descent, 1168 - 1521) and all of the people they conquered (practically all of Mesoamerica, including the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs). The ancient Mayans also played a version of patolli. Anthropologists Edward Burnett Tylor (1879, 1896)[1] and E. Adamson Hoebel (1966)[2] remarked on the game's apparent similarities to the South Asian game of pachisi, and a common origin for the games was once considered possible. C. J. Erasmus (1950) criticized the case for common origin as defining "similarity" so broadly as to obscure the differences, while noting that America had a variety of games in which patolli could have arisen independently.[3] He suggested, and R. B. Lewis (1988) further argued, that the similarities reflect the constraints of the board game format.[4]
Patolli is a race game with a heavy focus on gambling. Players would meet and inspect the items each other had available to gamble. They would bet blankets, maguey plants, precious stones, gold adornments, food or, in extreme cases, their homes, family or freedom. Agreeing to play against someone was not done casually, as the winner of the game would ultimately win all of the opponent's store of offerings.
Each player must have the same number of items to bet at the beginning of the game. The typical number of items to bet is six, because each player has six markers (each time a marker successfully completes a circuit around the board, the opponent is required to hand over one of their items); although any number would be acceptable as long as each player agreed.
Once an agreement is made to play, the players prepare themselves by invoking the god of games, Xōchipilli.
Five (or sometimes six) black beans are used as dice. Each bean has one side marked with a hole; thus, tossing the black beans will result in some showing this white mark and others showing a blank side. Dice could also be used; the rules in this article pertain to using five beans.
The game pieces are six red and six blue pebbles; each player controlled one color as their set of game markers. Beans, kernels of maize or even pieces of jade could also be used.
The game board has 52 squares arranged in an "X" shape. The game board was traditionally painted with liquid rubber on a sheet of leather or a straw mat and decorated with colored dye, or carved into the floor or a tabletop.
The object of patolli is to move six game pieces to the end of a board composed of specially-marked squares. In order to complete a round, a player must get all six of their game markers from their starting queue to the ending square on the game board before the other player. The ultimate goal of the game is for a player to win all of the opponent's treasure; to do this, the players may need to play more than one round of the game.
The players take turns tossing the beans onto the game area. In order for a player to get one of their markers on the game board, one bean would have to land with its hole face up and all the others face down (getting a score of one). Once a player has done so, the player places one of their game markers from their starting queue onto the starting square of the game board.
If a player already has a marker on the game board, they can move it forward (clockwise around the "X" shape) the same number of spaces as there are holes showing from the toss. A toss showing five holes, however, allows the player to move their marker ten spaces forward. A player cannot move a marker onto a space that already has a marker (belonging to either player) on it. If the player cannot move any of their markers because they would overshoot the ending square or land on a spot occupied by another marker, they lose their turn.
There are several specially-marked areas on the game board:
If a player's marker reaches the ending square by exact count, the marker is removed from the board and the opponent must give up one of their treasures to the player. The round is over once one player gets all six of their markers off the board this way.
As soon as a player has won all of their opponent's treasures, the game is over and that player is the winner. If no player has won the game by the end of a round of play, the players must play another round.
In addition, if a player's toss results in all the beans standing on their sides, the game is over and the player automatically wins all the goods bet by both parties.
According to the Magliabechiano codex, the god of games, Macuilxochitl, was considered to be participating in the game.[5] To represent this, there is a special area near the game board reserved for offerings to Macuilxochitl. A player must place one of their treasures into this space each time their toss results in a score of zero (no holes showing). After each round of play, the winner of the round receives all the treasure from this space as a gift from Macuilxochitl.