Ludo

How to play Ludo

Ludo is the classic “cross and circle” race game, a modern descendant of the ancient Indian game Pachisi that has been played by families around the world for generations. Two to four players each control four tokens of one colour and race them out of the yard, all the way around a shared cross-shaped track and up into the safety of their own home column. The rules are simple enough for children, yet the dice, the captures and the safe squares create real tension and plenty of swings of fortune. In this version you play on one screen: choose two, three or four seats and fill any of them with friends or with computer bots, then take turns tapping to roll and to move.

The goal

Each player has four tokens that begin in their coloured yard (the large corner base). Your aim is to be the first player to move all four of your tokens out of the yard, once around the main track, and all the way up your home column into the central goal. The first player to get every one of their four tokens home wins the game outright; the other players are simply racing to catch up.

The board

The board is a cross. Around the edge runs a shared track of 52 squares that every colour travels clockwise. In each of the four corners sits a coloured base — the yard — that holds a player’s tokens before they enter play. Leading from the track into the middle of the cross is each colour’s own home column of six cells, ending at the central goal. Eight squares on the track are marked with a star: these are the safe squares, and no token can be captured while it stands on one. Four of those stars are the coloured entry squares where each colour’s tokens first step onto the track.

Setting up a game

Pick the number of players — 2, 3 or 4 — and then decide, seat by seat, whether each colour is controlled by a human at the same screen or by a computer bot. This lets you play a full four-way game even on your own by filling the other seats with bots, or a purely local game with friends, or any mix. With two players the two colours are placed on opposite corners so the race is balanced. Turns pass clockwise around the seats.

Rules of play

• On your turn you roll a single die. A token can only leave the yard and step onto its coloured entry square when you roll a six, so early on you are often hoping for sixes to get your tokens into play.
• Once a token is on the track it moves clockwise by the number shown on the die. You choose which of your movable tokens to advance; if you have several out, you decide which one benefits most from the roll.
• Rolling a six earns you an extra roll, so a lucky turn can be several moves long. But rolling three sixes in a row is too much luck: the third six is cancelled, you make no move for it, and your turn ends immediately and passes on.
• If a roll cannot be played by any of your tokens — for example you roll a four but every token is still in the yard — your turn simply passes to the next player.
• Landing exactly on a track square that holds a single opponent token captures it: that token is sent all the way back to its owner’s yard and must start its journey again. A capture also earns you an extra roll.
• Two of your own tokens sharing one square form a blockade. Opponents cannot land on it or pass through it, so a well-placed blockade can bottle up the whole track. (This optional rule is switched on in this version.)

Captures

Captures are the heart of Ludo’s tension. Whenever one of your tokens finishes its move on a normal (unstarred) square that is occupied by exactly one enemy token, that enemy is knocked out and returns to its yard, losing all the progress it had made. You cannot capture your own tokens, and you cannot capture on a safe square. Because a capture grants an extra roll, a single lucky landing can turn a losing position into a winning one — but leaving your own tokens exposed on open squares invites the same fate.

Safe squares

Eight squares on the track are starred safe squares, including the four coloured entry squares. A token standing on a star can never be captured, and tokens of different colours are allowed to share a safe square peacefully. Use the stars as stepping stones: try to end your moves on or near a star when enemy tokens are close behind you, and think twice before parking a token on an open square within six steps of an opponent.

Reaching home

After a full lap of the track your token turns off the shared path and climbs its own home column toward the central goal. The goal must be reached by an exact count — if your token is three cells from home you must roll exactly a three; a larger roll cannot be played by that token and you must move a different one or forfeit the roll. This “exact entry” rule means the final steps of the race can be surprisingly slow, and a token can be stuck just short of home waiting for the right number.

Winning

The first player to bring all four of their tokens safely into the central goal wins the game. In a friendly game the remaining players often keep going to settle second, third and fourth places, but in this app the game ends and celebrates the winner as soon as someone gets their fourth token home. Because captures can send a leading token all the way back to the start, no lead is ever truly safe until the last token is in.

Strategy tips

• Spread your tokens out. Getting two or three tokens onto the track early gives you a choice of moves on every turn, so you can capture, advance or reach a safe square as the situation demands instead of being forced into your only legal move.
• Chase captures near the enemy home. Sending an opponent’s token back when it is close to finishing costs them the most progress, and the extra roll you earn keeps your own turn alive.
• Use safe squares and blockades to defend. Park exposed tokens on stars when enemies are within striking distance, and stack two tokens to build a blockade that shuts a stretch of track and protects your lead.
• Mind the exact-entry rule. Don’t rush every token to the very edge of home at once — keep a token a few squares back so you always have something useful to do with an awkward roll, and time your approach so you can land the exact number you need.

Frequently asked questions