Few games are as loved in India as Ludo. It began as Pachisi, a cross and circle game played in India for centuries, and later travelled the world under many names. Today millions of people play it on phones every day, with family at home and with friends across the country. The rules are simple enough for a child, but there is far more strategy in Ludo than most people think. This guide explains the rules step by step and then shares twelve tips that will help you win more games. You can practise everything here in our free browser version:
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The Ludo board
A Ludo board is a square with a cross-shaped track. Each of the four corners is a coloured yard (also called the base or home base) where a player's four tokens wait at the start of the game. The track runs around the cross, 52 squares in total, and every player travels around it in the same direction, usually clockwise.
Each colour has a starting square just outside its yard, where tokens enter the track. Each colour also has a home column: a coloured lane of squares that leads from the track to the triangle in the centre of the board. Only your own tokens can enter your home column, so once a token is inside it, it is completely safe.
Many boards also mark extra safe squares with a star. In most digital versions there are eight safe squares in total: the four coloured starting squares and four star squares.
The basic rules, step by step
- Decide who starts. Each player rolls the die. The highest roll goes first, and play continues clockwise.
- Release a token with a 6. At the start every token is in the yard. To bring one onto your starting square, you must roll a 6.
- Move forward. On each turn, move one token forward by the number shown on the die. You cannot split a roll between two tokens.
- Sixes give a bonus roll. Roll a 6 and you play again after your move. In most versions, three sixes in a row cancel your turn.
- Capture opponents. If your token lands exactly on a square occupied by a single opponent token (and it is not a safe square), that token is sent back to its yard. In many versions you get a bonus roll for a capture.
- Enter your home column. After a full lap, your token turns into your home column instead of continuing round the track.
- Reach home. Move the token into the centre triangle. In most modern rules you need the exact number to do this. Some versions give you a bonus roll for every token that reaches home.
- Win the game. The first player to bring all four tokens home wins. Others can keep playing for second and third place.
If you cannot make any legal move, for example all your tokens are in the yard and you did not roll a 6, your turn simply passes to the next player.
Popular house rules
Because Ludo is played in so many homes and apps, the rules vary a little. Before a game with friends, agree on these points so nobody argues later:
- Releasing with a 1: some families allow a token out of the yard with a 1 as well as a 6.
- Blocks: in some versions two tokens of the same colour on one square form a block that opponents cannot pass or capture. In others, any pair of tokens is just two tokens.
- Bonus for capturing: most apps give an extra roll after a capture or after a token reaches home. Some table rules do not.
- Exact roll to finish: nearly universal in apps, but some families let any roll that is high enough finish the token.
- Capture to enter home: a few versions say you must capture at least one opponent token before any of your tokens may enter the home column.
Online and browser versions follow their own fixed rules, so read the game's help screen once. The strategy tips below work with almost every version.
12 tips to win more Ludo games
1. Get tokens out early, but not all at once
A token in the yard does nothing for you, so use your first sixes to release at least two tokens. Having two tokens on the board gives you choices: when you roll, you can pick the move that captures, escapes or lands on a safe square. A player with only one token on the board has no choices at all.
That said, four tokens scattered around the board are hard to protect. Two or three active tokens is a good balance for most of the game.
2. Count the danger zone
A die only goes up to 6, so an opponent token can only capture yours if it is between 1 and 6 squares behind you (or more with a bonus roll after a six). Before you move, look at the six squares behind your destination. If an opponent is sitting there, your token has a real chance of being captured next turn.
Roughly speaking, a single opponent token directly behind you has about a one in six chance of rolling the exact number it needs. Two or three opponent tokens behind you make that much more likely, so avoid stopping in front of a crowd.
3. Love the safe squares
Star squares and starting squares are your rest stops. If a roll lets you land on one, it is often the best move even if another token could go further. A token parked on a safe square can wait there calmly while you move other tokens, then jump forward when the coast is clear.
4. Capture when it really hurts
Not all captures are equal. Sending back a token that has just left its yard costs your opponent very little: they only need another 6. Capturing a token that has travelled three quarters of the way round the board costs them a huge amount of progress. When you have a choice, go for the token that has travelled furthest.
Also think about what happens after the capture. If your token will then be sitting right in front of two other opponent tokens, the capture may cost you as much as it gains.
5. Do not chase every capture
Beginners often spend the whole game chasing opponents. Remember that the goal is to get your four tokens home, not to send everyone else back. If a capture means turning away from a safe route or leaving your best token exposed, it is often better to simply move forward.
6. Guard your starting square
Opponent tokens must pass in front of your yard. When you roll a 6 and release a token, it appears on your starting square, which is a safe square, and any opponent token one to six squares ahead of it is now in danger. Holding a token in the yard while opponents approach your start can set up a good capture.
7. Move the leader into the home column quickly
Your most advanced token is the one opponents most want to capture, because it would cost you the most. Once it reaches your home column, it can never be captured. So when your leading token is close to the turn into its column, use your rolls to get it there.
8. Plan for the exact finish
If your game needs an exact roll to finish, avoid having all your remaining tokens stuck a few squares from home at the same time. You could waste many turns waiting for a specific number. It is usually better to have one token in the home column and others still travelling, so that almost any roll is useful.
9. Use sixes wisely
A 6 is the most flexible roll. It can release a new token, give you a long move and earn another roll. Early in the game, use sixes to release tokens. Later, use them for big moves that take a token from danger to safety. Remember that three sixes in a row usually cancels your turn, so on your second six, choose a move you are happy to keep even if the turn ends.
10. Keep tokens together when blocks are allowed
If your version uses blocks, two of your tokens on the same square can stop opponents from passing. A block just in front of an opponent's leading token can trap it for several turns. Even when blocks are not a rule, tokens close together cover each other: an opponent who captures one may land right in front of the other.
11. Watch the player before you
Because play goes clockwise, the player whose yard comes just before yours is the one whose tokens most often travel right behind yours. Keep an eye on them in particular. The player after you, on the other hand, is mostly a target, because your tokens travel behind theirs.
12. Stay calm when the dice are cruel
Every Ludo player has waited ten turns for a 6 or watched a token get captured one square from safety. Bad luck is part of the game. Players who stay calm and keep making the sensible choice tend to come back, because luck evens out over a long game while good decisions keep adding up.
A sample turn: thinking like a strong player
Imagine you roll a 4 and have three options. Token A is just out of the yard. Token B is halfway round with an opponent token three squares behind it. Token C is two squares from your home column turn.
- Moving A by 4 makes small progress and leaves B in danger.
- Moving B by 4 takes it out of reach of the opponent behind it, unless that opponent rolls a 6 and then a 1.
- Moving C by 4 puts it safely in the home column.
Both B and C are good choices. A strong player compares the risk: B is in danger right now, while C is not under immediate attack. In that case moving B is usually right, and C can go home next turn. If an opponent were also lurking behind C, getting C into the home column would become the priority, because it has the most progress to lose.
Ludo with family and kids
Ludo is one of the best games for mixed ages. Young children practise counting and taking turns, older players enjoy the strategy, and grandparents often know house rules nobody else has heard of. A few ideas for family games:
- Agree on the house rules before you start and write them down for next time.
- For small children, play without captures for the first few games so nobody gets upset.
- Let the youngest player roll first. It is a small thing that makes them happy.
- Keep games short by playing until the first player gets all tokens home.
Pachisi is played on a cloth board shaped like a cross and traditionally uses cowrie shells instead of dice: the number of shells that land mouth-up decides the move. Versions of the game spread around the world, and in the late 1800s a simplified version with a die was sold in England under the name Ludo, from the Latin word for "I play".
Practise for free
The fastest way to improve at Ludo is to play many games and notice which decisions work. Our browser version needs no download or sign-up and runs on phones, tablets and computers. Try one of the tips above each game, for example always counting the six squares behind your destination, until it becomes a habit. If you enjoy board games, you might also like our Chess and Tic Tac Toe games, and our beginner's guide to chess.