Ludo

How to play Ludo: the rules step by step

Each player owns one coloured corner of the board, called the yard, with up to four gotis (tokens) waiting in it. The aim is simple: move every one of your gotis once around the board, up your own coloured home column and into the centre before your opponents do.

With our default rules, play goes like this:

• Roll the die on your turn. You need a 6 to bring a goti out of the yard onto your coloured start square.
• Move one goti forward by the number you rolled. Gotis travel clockwise round the 52 shared squares.
• Rolling a 6 gives you another roll. So does capturing an opponent or getting a goti home.
• Three 6s in a row cancel the turn and play passes on.
• Land exactly on an opponent's goti to cut it. It goes back to its yard and has to come out again.
• Nobody can be cut on a coloured start square or on one of the four star squares.
• After a full lap, your goti turns into your home column. You need the exact number to land in the centre.
• If no goti can use the roll, the turn simply passes.

Players, gotis and dice: setting up a game

You can play with 2, 3 or 4 players. In a 2-player game you choose the seating: opposite corners, the classic way, or side by side. Every seat you don't fill with a person is played by the computer.

You also pick how many gotis each player gets, from 1 to 4. One or two gotis make a short game for a quick break. Four is the full, traditional match. You can roll 1, 2 or 3 dice. With more than one die you choose how they work: use each die as a separate move (tap a die, then the goti it should move, in any order), or add them up so one goti moves the total.

There are five board designs and six dice styles to pick from. They only change the look, not the rules. An option to move automatically when there is only one legal move keeps the game flowing.

Ludo house rules you can switch on

Every family seems to play Ludo a little differently, and arguments about the rules are part of the fun. Instead of fixing one version, our Ludo lets you change each rule in setup or in the online lobby before the game starts:

• Roll needed to bring a goti out: 6 only, 1 or 6, or any roll.
• Start with one goti already out on the start square.
• A 6 gives another roll (on or off).
• Three 6s in a row lose the turn, and optionally also send the goti you moved last back to the yard.
• Capturing gives another roll, and reaching home gives another roll.
• Doubles give another roll when you play with 2 or 3 dice.
• Safe start squares and safe star squares, each on or off.
• Blockades (walls): two gotis of one colour on a square block everyone else from passing, landing on or capturing them.
• A captured goti goes back to its yard or only to its start square.
• Kill to unlock home: you must cut at least one opponent before your gotis can enter the home column. Until then they keep going round.
• Exact roll to reach home, or let any big enough roll take the goti in.
• Quick game: the game ends as soon as the first player gets every goti home.
• Team play for 4 players, who starts (random, highest roll or the host) and a 15 or 30 second turn timer.

How a game of Ludo is won

The first player to get all their gotis into the centre takes first place. Normally play carries on so second and third place are decided too, and the game ends when only one player is left on the board. If you only care about the winner, turn on Quick game: it stops as soon as someone finishes, and everyone else is ranked by how far their gotis have travelled.

In team play, opposite corners are partners. You cannot cut your partner's gotis and their walls never block you. Once all your own gotis are home, you keep taking turns and move your partner's gotis instead. The team finishes together and shares the place.

Ludo strategy tips that actually win games

Ludo is mostly luck from one roll to the next, but over a whole game good choices add up. These are the habits that separate a strong player from someone who just moves the front goti every time.

• Get more than one goti out early. With only one goti on the board, every roll has to move it, even into danger.
• Count the gap behind you. An opponent 1 to 6 squares behind can cut you with a single die. Seven or more squares away is much safer.
• Use safe squares as resting points. A star square just ahead of a chasing goti is often worth more than a long run forward.
• Cut the goti that has travelled the furthest. Sending a goti back from near its home costs the opponent far more than one fresh out of the yard.
• Don't sit on an opponent's start square while they still have gotis in the yard, unless start squares are safe in your rules.
• With kill to unlock home on, hunt early. A goti that can't enter home is stuck circling and exposed.
• With blockades on, two gotis together on a narrow path can hold up a rival for several turns.
• With several dice in separate mode, plan both moves before you tap. Use the small die to step to safety and the big die to run.

Play Ludo with friends online or against the computer

To play with friends, tap Invite friends. You get a link and a six character room code. Send the link on WhatsApp or anywhere else, or let friends type the code on the Ludo screen. As they join they take the empty seats, and any seat still empty is played by the computer. The host chooses the players, gotis, dice and house rules in the lobby, and keeps their tab open while everyone plays. You can send emojis and short messages during the game.

To play alone, pick Play vs computer. The Easy computer moves almost at random and is good for children. The Smart computer looks for captures, runs for safe squares and avoids landing in danger, so it is a fair challenge for adults. Speed can be relaxed, normal or fast.

Where Ludo comes from

Ludo is a simplified version of Pachisi and Chaupar, cross and circle games played in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, often with cowrie shells instead of dice. The British brought a simplified version home in the late 1800s and gave it the Latin name Ludo, meaning I play. Today it is one of the most played family games in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, on a board at home and on phones everywhere.