Pai Sho

"neutral"

- I always told you Pai Sho was more than just a game.



Pai Sho is a two-player strategy game. The game enjoys popularity throughout the world, as many people from all nations have been seen playing it. It is still popular after a century long war. Pai Sho is also used by the secretive Order of the White Lotus to identify its members.

Rules
The actual rules for Pai Sho are unknown. Some details about the game have however been seen. The large, circular board is split into 12 sections, divided by an 18x18 grid of colored squares. Round tiles are used as pieces, with each of them having a different image. Each player is given a certain number of tiles, which are placed and moved around the grid.

Order of the White Lotus
Pai Sho is also used by the Order of the White Lotus to identify its members. In "The Desert", Uncle Iroh plays a game as a way of identifying himself as part of the society. The key to recognition between members includes scripted dialog revolving around the opening move of placing a White Lotus tile in the center of the board, followed by the rapid placement of pieces in an exact pattern that mirrors the central piece. It is possible that this dialog has several outcomes to allow not only identification as a member of the group but also as a certain rank within the group (Iroh is a Grand Master).

Notable Players

 * Iroh
 * Aang
 * Gyatso
 * Fung

Trivia

 * Pai Sho bares a resemblance to Go, Chinese Checkers, and checkers.
 * The name of the game bares resemblance to a Tibetan game called Sho-pa. Although Sho-pa in reality is a gambling game and is not at all similar to chess or checkers.
 * The name bares even more resemblance to the Chinese tile game, Pai Gow.
 * There is a giant Pai Sho table in the Western Air Temple.