Mechanically, Sorry!

starts with the players selecting their desired color and pawns, placing them upon the

board. After selecting who to go first, players take turn drawing cards from a deck in the middle of the board,

all containing instructions for the player that round. All of the player’s pawns are currently restricted in the

Start zone; they can only move them out onto the board and into ‘play’ by drawing a 1 or 2. Pawns can jump

over each other, but if they land on a spot already inhabited by another pawn, they kick that pawn back to

their respective player’s start zone. If both pawns are your own, and the only way to complete the move is to

bump your own pawn, you simply lose a turn. ’Slide’ spaces exist, which means that if a pawn lands on the

very first slide space (not of its own color), they ‘slide’ to the end, knocking off every pawn in the slide, even

their own, to start. Safety zones exist in the last squares before a player’s home; only colored pawns can

enter, and are safe from others (bumping, switching)

Dynamically, Sorry! is a board game that, quite clearly, prides itself on being somewhat rude and intrusive to

other player’s game experiences. The majority of the flow revolves around players removing, bumping, or

switching pawns with each other, with the intent of winning first. Although it is all in good fun, Sorry has the

dynamic of war and treachery, in which every player, presumably your friends, are now your sworn enemies

and seek only to ruin your chances at winning. Being able to choose which pawn to move does technically

allow the player to be slightly more lenient or friendly to others, so some players might be much more

aggressive and constantly aim for knocking out others. Overall, Sorry allows players to actively control their

fate and the fate of others, leading to engaging gameplay.

Aesthetically, Sorry is a frustrating game. Despite the players best actions and intents, they will usually lose

much of their progress to the actions of others. While this obviously depends on the player’s level of

investment, Sorry will still rouse some negative response in players when losing pawns. This can lead to

vengeance, with players actively seeking methods to try to push down another, more combative player, or

instead may lead players to try to ‘take a step back’, be more disengaged and try to stay out of the fighting.

Either way, Sorry puts players in a very combat-oriented scenario, and while the stakes aren’t very high, this

game definitely puts players into unease, unrest, and general distrust for those around them.