Ludo Rules and Strategy: How to Play Ludo and Win More Often

Ludo looks like a game of pure luck and mostly is, but the small choices it gives you, which token to move, when to capture, when to hang back, add up over a game. This guide covers the standard Ludo rules, the house rules you should agree on first, and five pieces of strategy that beat casual players more often than not.

1. The short version
2. The board and the pieces
3. Getting a token out
4. Moving and the six rule
5. Capturing and safe squares
6. The home column and finishing
7. House rules to agree on
8. Five strategy tips
9. Ludo, Pachisi and Parcheesi
10. If you like Ludo

The short version

Each player has four tokens in a coloured base. Roll a six to move a token onto the track. Race your tokens clockwise around the board, roll exactly to get each one into your home triangle, and the first player with all four tokens home wins. Landing on an opponent's token sends it back to their base.

The board and the pieces

A Ludo board is a cross. Each arm has a three-wide strip: the outer two lanes are part of the shared track and the middle lane, in your colour, is your home column leading to the centre. The four corners are the bases, one per colour. The shared track has 52 squares, and each colour's home column adds another five before the home triangle.

Two to four players each take a colour and four tokens. One die is used. Highest roll starts and play goes clockwise.

Getting a token out

Tokens start in the base and cannot enter the track until you roll a six. When you do, place one token on your starting square (the coloured square just outside your base, at the beginning of your route) and roll again. If you have no token on the track and do not roll a six, your turn simply ends.

Moving and the six rule

• Move one token the exact number rolled, clockwise. You may choose which token, but you must move if you can.
• A six always earns another roll, whether you used it to leave the base or to move.
• Three sixes in a row cancels the turn in most rule sets: your third six is not moved and play passes on.
• Tokens may pass over other tokens of any colour. Some rule sets treat two tokens of the same colour on one square as a block that cannot be passed; see house rules.

Capturing and safe squares

If your token ends its move on a square occupied by a single opponent token, that token is captured and returned to its owner's base, where it must wait for a six again. Capturing usually earns a bonus roll.

Some squares are safe. On most boards these are the four starting squares and the four star squares, spaced eight apart around the track. Tokens on a safe square cannot be captured. Your own home column is also safe, since only your tokens can enter it.

The home column and finishing

After a full lap your token turns into your coloured home column instead of passing your starting square again. The column is five squares long and ends at the home triangle. You need an exact roll to land in the triangle; if the roll is too big, that token cannot move and you must move another token or pass. Once a token is home it is finished and stays there.

The first player to bring all four tokens home wins. Play often continues to decide second and third place.

House rules to agree on

• Does a capture earn a bonus roll? Usually yes; some families say no.
• Do doubled tokens block? Two of your tokens on one square forming a wall that no one may pass is common in India and Pakistan, less so elsewhere.
• Can you enter the base with a one? Some sets allow a one as well as a six to bring a token out. It makes the game faster.
• Do you have to move if you can? Standard rules say yes. Allowing a pass changes the strategy a lot.
• Are the star squares safe? Check your board. If it has no stars, only the starting squares are safe.

Five strategy tips

1. Get a second token out early. With one token on the track every roll is forced. With two you can choose, and choice is the only edge the game offers. Use an early six on a new token rather than advancing a lone runner.
2. Count to six behind you. A token is in danger when an opponent sits one to six squares behind it and none of the squares between are safe. Before moving, check whether the move lands you in that zone. Moving a token from four squares ahead of an enemy to ten squares ahead is often worth more than any other move.
3. Take captures, especially far from the captured player's base. A token captured after 40 squares of travel costs its owner around seven turns of average progress plus the wait for a six. That is the biggest swing in the game.
4. Park on safe squares when you cannot advance safely. If every move exposes something, put a token on a star or starting square and let the opponents make the mistakes.
5. Do not rush the home column. Tokens in the column are safe forever. It is often better to bring a vulnerable token round the board than to spend rolls fishing for the exact number, because the exact roll will come eventually and the vulnerable token will not survive forever.

None of this beats a hot streak of sixes. It only tilts a 50/50 game a few points in your favour, which over an evening is enough to be noticed.

Ludo, Pachisi and Parcheesi

Ludo is a simplified version of Pachisi, the Indian game played on a cross-shaped cloth with cowrie shells for dice, which dates back at least to the 16th century and is often called the national game of India. A British patent in 1896 fixed the die, the four tokens and the modern board and gave it the Latin name Ludo, "I play". Parcheesi is the American branded version of Pachisi with slightly different rules, including two dice. The Ludo rules above are the ones most modern sets print.

If you like Ludo

Ludo's cousin in the dice-race family is Snakes and Ladders, which strips out the choices and keeps the luck. Our Snakes and Ladders rules guide covers the board, the exact-roll finish and the house rules, and you can play a free arcade version in the browser with no download.