King's Castle

EQUIPMENT: one 8-sided die; 4 playing pieces of four different colors; and the board, consisting of an oval, three-lane track with a separate, ten-space track in the center. What follows is my reconstruction of the rules. SET UP: players group their pieces on the 'start' space of the central track. Turns are in alphabetical order of the colors. GOAL: to get to the opposite side of the central track, the 'finish' space, a mere nine spaces away. An exact throw is not needed. MOVEMENT: players take turns rolling the d8, moving that many spaces counter-clockwise. Several spaces are connected by arrows-if you land on the end of one, go to its head; if on its head, go to the tail. If you land on another player, that person goes back to 'start.' Landing on the fifth space of the central track also sends one back to 'start.'