Ŏc tŏs ō rēē
I developed the game Octosory after playing the original version of “Sorry” with two of my granddaughters. It was the first time I had ever played it but I found it to be a great game.
I changed the look and size by designing a bigger board with 80 circles around the edge. The original “Sorry” is comprised of a square board with 60 square spaces and uses cards to govern the moves. Instead of using cards, the game I developed requires 2 eight-sided dice to play. With a few more additions and some rule changes, the game Octosory was born in 2020.
The first game I made was fabricated from wood and used plastic “pawns” I had purchased online for game pieces. I added 3/16″ diameter posts made from 10-24 setscrews to the bottom of the pawns. These would would slip into holes drilled in the wood.
I updated this version a few months later to use marbles for game pieces instead of the plastic pawns. It was very similar to the first version, but each 3/16″ hole was counterbored slightly different to allow for marbles to nestle better in the circular spaces.
I realized some people would not be interested or have the skills necessary to make a large wooden Octosory board. When planning on an Octosory board that could be built from instructions in Garsgarage, I decided to make a smaller board that would be made simply out of foam poster board. Game pieces would be made out of 8-32 machine screws, with nuts and flat washers added to them.
In 2025, after playing Octosory with some friends, I decided to change the board description and fine-tune the rules. Previously, I had two sets of rules: One using “marbles” for game pieces, and the other using homemade game pieces or “missiles”. The newly designed game board is shown below. It has more of an “Outer Space” theme.
To play the game you will need two eight-sided dice numbered 1-8. You can buy these in some hobby stores and online. To use virtual dice, click the link below. One six-sided dice will appear. Click on it and it will disappear. Next click the Purple 8 twice and then start rolling!
At first glance, the rules may seem a little complicated. After a few games, however, a player will have the moves and rules memorized. Just ask my granddaughters. With so many games swirling in my head, sometimes I get the rules mixed up. The girls look at me in disbelief: “But Grandpa, you MADE the rules!” 🙂
To print out Game Rules and a separate cheat sheet for viewing the dice instructions click on the pictures below.
Click on the picture to view the rules for Octosory
Click on the picture on the right to view the “Number Rules for Two Dice” pdf.
To make your own wooden Octosory Board Game click on the green button to go to that page.
Just having fun!