In Sorry! each player races four pawns from START to HOME, drawing one card a turn to move; you can only leave START with a 1 or a 2, landing on an opponent's pawn bumps it back to its START, and every pawn has to reach HOME by exact count. The first player to get all four pawns home wins.
These rules come from Hasbro's instructions for the SORRY! game, as of November 2026. It's for 2 to 4 players, ages 6 and up, and the whole game fits on one short sheet.
Setup and your first turn
In the box: the gameboard, a deck of cards and 16 pawns, four in each of four colours. The first surprise for most people is that the deck has no 6s or 9s.
- Each player picks a colour and puts all four pawns on that colour's START.
- Shuffle the deck and put it facedown on the Place Pack Here space. That's the draw pile.
- Pick who goes first. Pawns move clockwise round the board, unless a card says otherwise, and play passes to the left.
- On each turn, take the top card, move if you can, then put the card faceup on Discard Here.
For a faster game, the sheet suggests putting three pawns on START and the fourth on the circle just below it, so everyone has a pawn out from the off.
To start a pawn you must draw a 1 or a 2. A 1 puts a pawn from START onto your start circle and your turn ends. A 2 lets you move a pawn out and then draw again. No other card can start a pawn. If it's your first turn, you've no pawn on the track and you don't draw a 1 or 2, you forfeit the turn. You can't have two pawns on your start circle at once, and if an opponent's pawn is sitting on it, you bump it back to its START.
What every card does
| Card | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Start a pawn, or move one pawn forward 1 |
| 2 | Start a pawn, or move one pawn forward 2, then draw again (even if you couldn't move) |
| 3 | Move one pawn forward 3 |
| 4 | Move one pawn backward 4 |
| 5 | Move one pawn forward 5 |
| 7 | Move one pawn forward 7, or split the 7 between two pawns |
| 8 | Move one pawn forward 8 |
| 10 | Move one pawn forward 10, or backward 1 |
| 11 | Move one pawn forward 11, or swap one of your pawns with an opponent's |
| 12 | Move one pawn forward 12 |
| SORRY! | Take a pawn from your START, put it on any space an opponent occupies, and bump that pawn back to its START |
The 7 has two conditions. You can't use it to start a pawn. And if you use part of it to get a pawn HOME, you have to be able to use the rest of the move on another pawn.
The 11 is where people trip up. You can only swap with pawns in play on the open track, not ones at START, at HOME or in a safety zone. If you don't want to swap and you can't move forward 11, you're allowed to forfeit the move. And if your swap lands you on the triangle at the start of another colour's slide, you slide.
A SORRY! card with no pawn on your START, or no opponent's pawn you can reach, means you forfeit that move.
Jumping, bumping and slides
You can jump over any pawn in your way, yours or an opponent's, counting it as one space. If you finish your move on a space with an opponent's pawn, you bump it back to its own START. Two pawns of the same colour can never share a space, so if your only possible move would land on your own pawn, you forfeit the turn.
Two more rules shape every game. If you can move, you must move, even if it's bad for you. And if you can't move at all, you forfeit the turn.
Slides are the big swing. Land by exact count on the triangle at the beginning of a slide that isn't your colour and you slide to the end, bumping every pawn in your way back to its START. That includes your own pawns, which is the catch that loses games. Land on a slide of your own colour and you don't slide; you stay put on the triangle.
Safety zones and getting home
Only you can enter your own colour's safety zone. You can't enter it with a backward move, but you can move backward out of it and come back in on later turns as the cards allow. On the outside track, you can't move forward past your own safety zone entry, though you can pass it going backward or because an opponent's SORRY! or 11 moved you.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
The 4 and the 10 open up a shortcut. If a backward move takes a pawn at least two spaces beyond your own START, you can move into your safety zone on a later turn without going all the way round the board.
HOME needs an exact count, and once a pawn is home it doesn't move again for the rest of the game. If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discards to make a new one. The winner of one game goes first in the next.
Team play and the points game for adults
The sheet has two variations. In the team game, Red always partners Yellow and Green always partners Blue. You may move or bump your own pawn or your partner's, and if you land on your partner's pawn you bump it anyway. SORRY! cards must be used, even if that means sending your own or your partner's pawn back. A 7 can be split among any of the team's eight pawns, and a 1 or 2 can start or move either partner's pawn. The first partnership to get all eight pawns home wins.
The variation for adults plays for points. Deal five cards facedown to each player; on your turn you choose one card to play, then draw back up to five. If none of your cards lets you move, discard one, draw a new one and your turn ends. The first player with all four pawns home wins, then everyone scores:
| Who scores | Points |
|---|---|
| Every player | 5 for each of their pawns at HOME |
| Winner, extra | 5 for each opponent's pawn not at HOME |
| Winner, extra | 25 if no opponent has more than two pawns HOME |
| Winner, extra | 50 if no opponent has more than one pawn HOME |
| Winner, extra | 100 if no opponent's pawn reached HOME |
My verdict
I'd teach the start rule, the slides and the SORRY! card before the first draw, and leave the 7 and 11 notes until someone draws one, because they make far more sense with a card in your hand. I'd play the faster setup with younger children. I'd skip the points variation until everyone's comfortable with the basic game; holding five cards adds a layer of choice that suits older players. If Sorry! goes down well, my classic board games list has plenty more in the same spirit, and there are bigger groups covered in my party board games picks.
Frequently asked questions
How do you start a pawn in Sorry?
You need to draw a 1 or a 2. A 1 moves a pawn onto your start circle and ends your turn; a 2 moves a pawn out and lets you draw again. No other card can start a pawn.
What does the Sorry card do?
You take a pawn from your START, put it on a space occupied by an opponent's pawn, and bump that pawn back to its START. If you can't, you forfeit the move.
Do you need an exact count to get home?
Yes. Every pawn must reach HOME by exact count, and once it's home it stays there for the rest of the game.
Is there no 6 or 9 in Sorry?
That's right. The deck has no 6s or 9s, which is why the card table jumps from 5 to 7 and from 8 to 10.
