®
The Rules of Sorry!®
(As found in the 1939 United States version of the game Sorry!®)
THE PACK consists of 44 cards, four each of the denominations: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8,
10, 11, 12 and four Sorry!® cards.
THE OBJECT of the game is for each player to move the 4 pawns under their
control from their Start into their Home by moves governed by the cards they draw from
the pack.
THE WINNER is the first player to move their 4 pawns into their Home.
THE START is made by shuffling the cards well and placing the pack face down on
the center design on the board. Each player then draws a card from the pack. The player
drawing the highest card is called the Leader. They choose the color playing pieces that
they want and have the first play. The Sorry!® card counts the highest in drawing. The
Winner of the first game is the Leader in the second game.
THE PLAY begins by the Leader drawing the top card from the pack and placing
it face up in the design marked on the board and moving their pawn according to the
directions on the card that they have drawn. The player on the left of the Leader then
draws the next card from the pack and so on, but no player may draw a card until the
previous play has been completed.
TO START A PAWN OUT a player places one of their pawns on the
colored circle in front of their Start. A player must draw a No. 1, No. 2 or Sorry!® card
for every pawn they Start Out.
NOTE CAREFULLY that in playing either a No. 1 or No. 2 card to Start a
Pawn Out the player merely places their pawn on the colored circle in front of their
Start, but the player does not in addition move forward on that play.
MARGIN SQUARES are the 60 squares around the edge of the board.
MARGIN PAWNS are those occupying any of the 60 Margin Squares.
SAFETY ZONE is the name given to the 5 COLORED SQUARES preceding
each Home.
PAWNS IN PLAY are those occupying Any Margin Square or Any Square in the
Safety Zone.
FORWARD MOVES are made in the directions indicated by the arrows.
The Pack: When the pack has been exhausted, reshuffle and place face down again
on the board.
DETAILED RULES
A. Under No Circumstance Whatsoever do two pawns occupy one square.
B. If by Any Move Whatsoever a pawn ends its move on a Margin Square occupied
by an opponent’s pawn, the opponent’s pawn Must be returned to its Start.
C. A player Forfeits the Move for any card drawn if the Only move Open to them
would cause them to move Onto a square already occupied by one of their
Own Pawns, i.e., a player is Never compelled to return their own pawns to Start
Except by Sliding under the Slide rule. (See Slide Rule, below.)
D. A player may pass Over their own pawns or those of Any opponent, but Every
Square on the board whether occupied or not must be counted.
E. The Exact number must be drawn to move a pawn Home (see Amplified Card
Rule “7”).
F. A player Forfeits their move if they draw a card which would carry the Only
pawn they have in play beyond their Home.
G. The Safety Zone leading to a player’s Home is entered only by a pawn of the
same color, from (or through) the square marked “Enters to Go Home.” (This
entrance square is used otherwise like any other plain white square.) A Safety
Zone may be entered only by a forward move and a player is never allowed
to move their pawn forward beyond this entrance square except to enter their
Safety Zone. (NOTE: However, this rule has no application to the exchange of
pieces by an opponent through the play of an 11 card.)
If a pawn is compelled by the play of a 4 or 10 card to move backwards from their
Safety Zone they may pass backwards to (or through) this entrance square in the reverse
direction of the arrow.
Note also that a player in playing a 4, 10, 11 or Sorry!® card may be fortunate
enough to place one of their pawns in a position to enter their Safety Zone on a
subsequent play without playing all of the way around the board. For example, a
player having a pawn on their Starting Circle immediately opposite their Start and
drawing a No. 4 card may move that pawn four spaces backwards, thus placing it in
a position to enter its Safety Zone by any subsequent forward move which would not
carry it beyond its HOME.
H. A player Must move one of their pawns the Full number of squares for Every
Card Drawn, or make one of the alternate moves according to the Rules. If it is
impossible to do either, the move must be Forfeited.
I. Once a pawn has been moved into Home it is Out of Play and is Not moved
again during the game.
THE SLIDES
If as a result of any move whatsoever a player’s pawn Ends its move on any of the 6
colored triangles at the start of a Slide, other than a slide of its own color, it Must slide
along the channel to the colored circle at the other end and remove EVERY pawn ON
the Slide (even a pawn of its OWN color). Every pawn thus displaced must be returned
to its respective Start. Note very carefully that a pawn does Not slide when it ends its’
move on a triangle of Its Own Color.
FASTER GAME
If a faster game is desired each player may use three pawns of a color instead of four.
This will speed the game up considerably.
WINNING
The player who first moves their 4 pawns from their Start to their Home, according to
the rules, Wins the game.
AMPLIFIED CARD RULES
The following is in further explanation of the rules printed on the cards, which entirely
govern the play of the game.
A player drawing a 3, 5, 8, or 12 card moves forward the corresponding number of
spaces, provided they have a pawn in play. If they cannot move the full number of spaces
called for by the card they forfeit their move.
THE 1: A player must either Start a Pawn Out or move one pawn, which is already
in play, forward one square.
THE 2: A player must either Start a Pawn Out or move one pawn, which is already in
play, forward two squares. The play for the “2” must be made before the extra draw is taken.
THE 4: A player who has a pawn in the Safety Zone and draws a “4” must move
that pawn backward 4 spaces if they have no other pawn in play.
THE 7: A player may move a pawn Home with a split “7”, provided they have
another pawn in play to complete the full move of 7 squares in all. Providing the full
7 squares are moved, a split “7” may be used to move 2 pawns into Home, return 2
opponents’ pawns to Start, use 2 Slides, or combination of any of the above. A “7” must
not be used to Start a Pawn Out and must not be used to move a piece backward.
THE 10: A player drawing a “10” and being unable, or not wishing, to move a pawn
forward 10 spaces must move a pawn backward 1 space even if that pawn is in the Safety Zone.
THE 11: A player drawing an “11” forfeits the move if it is impossible for them to
move one of their pawns forward 11 spaces and if they do Not Wish to change places
with any Margin Pawns of an opponent.
PARTNERSHIP SORRY!®
Partnership Sorry!® is played in the same manner as regular Sorry!®
Red and Yellow are always partners. Green and Blue are always partners.
A player after taking their turn at drawing a card from the pack may use this card for
their own play or for that of their partner.
Example: Red has four pawns at the start. Yellow, their partner has three pawns at Start
and one on a margin square. Red draws a four card which they used to play Yellow’s
pawn.
A player may not forfeit a move if either they or their partner has a pawn that can be
moved.
In playing a partnership game, should it so happen that both of the players who are
partners succeed in getting all of their eight pawns around the board and into their homes
before either of the opposing players gets their four pawns home, the game immediately
becomes a double game and is the equivalent of winning two single games.
SPECIAL RULES FOR PARTNERSHIP SORRY!®
1. A Sorry!® card must be used at all times, even though it may mean the removal of
your partner’s pawn.
2. If, as sometimes happens, the only possible move will land a player on a space
occupied by their partner (when there is no other possibility of moving any other of
their own or their partner’s pawns), the play must be made and the partner removed
from the board.
3. A seven may be split between any two pawns, including those of a partner.
4. When a two is drawn, the extra draw may be applied to either your own or your
partner’s pawns regardless of where the two was used.
5. If none of your pawns are in a position to be moved, the play must be made by one
of your partner’s pawns. Only in the case where neither your own pawns nor your
partner’s pawns can be moved may the move by forfeited.
6. When one player has all their pawns home, they continue to draw and use all their
moves for their partner’s pawns.
7. The first set of partners to get all eight pawns in their proper homes wins the game.
POINT SCORING SORRY!®
An Exciting Variation of Sorry!®
The general rules for play in this game are the same as in regular Sorry!® with the
following brief exceptions.
BEGINNING PLAY: At the beginning of play five cards are dealt to each
player. The remaining cards in the pack are placed face down in the center of the
board. This becomes the Draw Pack.
Each player starts one pawn out on their own starting point.
PLAY: The first player now begins play by playing one card from their hand and
placing it face up alongside the draw pack in the center of the board. They then follow
the directions printed on that card and move as in regular Sorry!®. At the end of their
move, they refill their hand by taking the top card from the draw pack. This completes
that player’s move. (Note: No player may hold more or less than five cards in their hand
at one time. If a player is unable to follow the directions on any card they hold, they are
permitted to discard one card and take one card from the draw pile. Their turn then ends.)
Play continues to the left, the Winner being that player who first gets all of their pawns
Home by exact count.
SCORING: At the end of the game each player scores one point for every pawn
they have Home. The Winner adds to their score of four points, one point for each
opponent’s pawn in Home. This is called the Normal Score.
Twenty-Four additional points are added to the Winner’s Normal Score if no opponent
has a pawn Home.
Sixteen points are added to the Winner’s Normal Score if no opponent has more than
one pawn Home.
Eight points are added to the Winner’s Normal Score if no opponent has more than two
pawns Home.
DOUBLING: The Final Score in a Doubled Game is doubled. Any player may
call “double” (or “redouble”) at any time in the game. Any or all other players may then
accept the double (or redouble) or drop out of play. If all payers drop out on a double (or
subsequent redouble) the game ends and the player who called the double (or redouble)
wins five points.
PATIENCE SORRY!® (SORRY! ® FOR ONE)
Patience Sorry!® is a game in which One player controls the moves of four red
pawns and four yellow pawns, drawing for, and moving pawns on each color alternately.
The object of Patience Sorry!® is to make fair moves according to the rules in such a
manner that when two pawns of each color are Home, two of each color are in Safety.
The game does not “come out” if the third pawn of one color enters Home before the
fourth pawn of the other color has entered Safety.
HINTS ON PLAY
(Adapted from the 1933 British version of the game Sorry!®)
DON’T FORGET to control your excitement and not make the first move which
appears good. First observe the effect of the move on all your pawns.
DON’T FORGET it may sometimes be to your ultimate advantage to delay an
opponent who appears to be winning, rather than advance your own pawn.
DON’T FORGET that the game of Sorry!® is never lost until it is won. It is
essentially a game of “ups and downs” and no two games are ever alike.
Contact us:
Winning Moves Games
75 Sylvan Street Suite C-104
Danvers, MA 01923
Phone: 1-800-664-7788 ext. 114
Fax: 978-739-4847
Email: [email protected]
For more information about Winning Moves
product safety and compliance please visit
http://www.winning-moves.com/product_safety
SORRY! and HASBRO and all related trademarks and logos are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc.
©2023 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved. Licensed by Hasbro. WINNING MOVES, WINNING MOVES
GAMES, and CLASSIC, RETRO, COOL, & FUN, and Logos thereof, are registered trademarks of
Winning Moves Inc. © 2023 Winning Moves Inc. 75 Sylvan Street, Suite C-104, Danvers, MA 01923 USA.
Colors and parts may vary. Made in China.
