The original game was first played in ancient Mesopotamia around 4500 years ago. Objective Run all your pieces through the course and out before your opponent. Rules Piece movements are determined by rolling a set of four-sided, pyramid-shaped dice. Two of the four corners of each die are marked, giving each die an equal chance of landing with a marked or unmarked corner facing up (just like a fair coin). After rolling, the total number of marked ends facing upwards indicates how many spaces a player may move during that turn. Players are required to move a piece whenever possible, even if it results in an unfavorable outcome. Rolling a zero will automatically skip your turn. Sometimes it is impossible to move the indicated amount of spaces and the turn is also automatically skipped. Your opponent's pieces may be captured by landing one of your pieces on the same space. The captured piece is then sent back to the beginning, off the board. The spaces that have a mandala on them are special. Landing in one of them will grant you a second roll of the dice. In addition, pieces on mandala spaces can't be captured. To remove a piece off the board at the end of the course, the player must roll the exact number of spaces remaining plus one.