Malefiz, also known as Barricade, is a board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

, invented by Werner Schöppner and first marketed in 1959. It was originally distributed by Ravensburger

Ravensburger

Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH is a German game company. It is a leader in the European puzzle market.-History:The company was founded by Otto Robert Maier with seat in Ravensburg, a town in Upper Swabia in southern Germany. He began publishing in 1883 with his first author contract...

. It is a descendant of the board game Pachisi

Pachisi

Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that originated in ancient India which has been described as the "national game of India". It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross...

, but it lacks the former game's circular gameplay, and makes use of extra pieces to build blockades.

Objective

Two to four players begin the game with 5 pieces each, arranged at the bottom of the board. The goal is to reach the very top of the board. A roll of the die determines how many places each piece is allowed to move. Players can block their opponents by moving "barricade" pieces to obstruct their path.

Name

The name of the game was creatively derived from the obsolete German word Malefiz (English: "misdeed", "bad action"). The German term originates from the Latin word maleficus (mischievous, profane).