Patolli

It was reported by the conquistadors that Moctezuma Xocoyotzin often enjoyed watching his nobles play the game at court.

1100 - 1300), the Aztecs (who claimed Toltec descent, 1168 - 1521) and all of the people they conquered (practically all of Mesoamerica, including the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs).

C. J. Erasmus (1950) criticized the case for common origin as defining "similarity" so broadly as to obscure the differences, while noting that America had a variety of games in which patolli could have arisen independently.

They would bet blankets, maguey plants, precious stones, gold adornments, food or, in extreme cases, their homes, family or freedom.

[citation needed] Once an agreement is made to play, the players prepare themselves by invoking the god of games, Xōchipilli.

[2] The game board was traditionally painted with liquid rubber on a sheet of leather or a straw mat and decorated with colored dye, or carved into the floor or a tabletop.

If a player already has a marker on the game board, they can move it forward (clockwise around the "X" shape) the same number of spaces as there are holes showing from the toss.

A player must place one of their treasures into this space each time their toss results in a score of zero (no holes showing).