How to play Ludo

What Ludo is

Ludo is a race game for two to four players. Each player has four tokens in a corner yard, and a single die decides how far they move: once round a cross-shaped track, then up a lane of their own colour to the centre. Luck plays a big part, but the choice you make with each roll, which token to move, when to attack and when to stay safe, decides most close games.

Playing Ludo on AllFun

AllFun Ludo has the classic board: four yards, a loop of 52 squares and a home lane per colour. Play one to three computer players at Easy, Normal or Hard, or Pass & play on one device for two to four people. Classic gives everyone four tokens; Quick gives two, for a short game.

Online games are for two, through Play Online or a link sent to a friend, with 30 seconds for each roll or move. Rules & options holds several of the house rules below. Against the computer you also get one free Re-roll and one free Shield, which keeps a token safe from capture until your next turn.

The rules

Getting out and moving

• A token leaves its yard only on a 6, and it comes out onto its colour's start square.
• Each roll moves one token forward. If no token can use it, the turn passes.
• A 6 earns another roll. Under the usual rule, a third 6 in a row ends the turn with no move.

Captures and safe squares

Land exactly on a rival token and it goes back to its yard, needing another 6 to come out. A capture also earns you an extra roll. On our board the four start squares and the four star squares are safe: nobody is captured there, so colours may share them.

Going home

After nearly a full lap, each token turns into its own coloured lane, where rivals cannot follow. The centre needs an exact roll: a token three squares from home cannot use a 5, so that roll moves another token or is lost. A token reaching home earns one more roll, and the first player with every token home wins.

House rules and variations

Ludo is played many ways at home, so agree the rules first. The usual differences:

• Blocks: some families let two tokens of one colour form a wall nobody can pass. AllFun Ludo has no blocks.
• Getting out: some accept a 1 as well as a 6, or start with one token out (our Start with one out).
• Extra rolls: some give no bonus for a capture. Here you can switch off the Capture bonus roll and Three 6s end a turn.
• Places: stop at the first winner, or decide second and third with Play on for places.
• Capture first: a stricter rule makes you capture once before any token may enter the home lane.

Six tips for winning at Ludo

1. Open a second token early. With one token out, every roll must move it, even into danger.
2. Count the danger zone. A rival one to six squares behind you can hit you next roll. Step out of range, or onto a safe square.
3. Take the capture. It costs a rival a whole lap and gives you another roll, usually worth more than a few squares of progress.
4. Spread your options. Several tokens in play give you a choice with every roll; one runner and three in the yard give you none.
5. Do not hurry the last stretch. A token in its home lane is safe. Spend rolls on tokens still on the loop.
6. Mind the squares after a rival's start. A token just past someone's start square is easy prey when they roll a 6.

A short history

Ludo simplifies pachisi, a race game played for centuries on a cross-shaped cloth board with cowrie shells for dice. The one-die version on a printed board was patented in the 1890s; its name is Latin for "I play".

Ludo FAQ