They are surrounded and connected with a circle of fields, over which the game pieces move in a clockwise direction.

At the beginning of the game, the players' pieces are placed in the four fields marked "B" on the far left side, the "out" section.

Mensch ärgere Dich nicht is considered the most popular parlour game in Germany.

[citation needed] In contrast to Ludo, the game's role model, Schmidt left aside all tactical and strategic variations in the rules.

[5][failed verification] Thanks to this tactic and the subsequent word-of-mouth propaganda, it was possible to sell 1 million games at the price of 35 Pfennigs by 1920.

In 1953, Schmidt Spiele introduced an official Mensch ärgere Dich nicht version as a licensed edition in East Germany.

Soon after, almost identical counterfeits appeared in West Germany under the title of "Wir werfen raus!"

Apart from these counterfeits, other internationally refined and independent games evolved from Mensch ärgere Dich nicht and other Pachisi spin-offs.

[7] On 11 February 2010 the Deutsche Post issued a special 55 cent stamp to celebrate the game's 100th anniversary.

[8] In January 2014, Schmidt Spiele released a card game with the title Mensch ärgere Dich nicht: Das Kartenspiel.

[9] Schmidt's hometown Amberg set the world record for simultaneous gameplay of Mensch ärgere Dich nicht with 1692 people on 375 game-boards in July 2017.