Ludo

Rules and how to play

The detailed rules of Ludo vary by country and region. This page uses the following rules.

1. The game is for 2–4 players, and each player has 4 tokens. The colors are Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue. With 2 players, Red and Yellow (on opposite sides) are used, and with 3 players, Red, Green, and Yellow. Red goes first, and the turn passes from color to color clockwise as seen from above.
2. On your turn, you roll the die once. If you roll a 6, you can bring one token out of your yard onto your color’s start square. You may instead use the 6 to move a token on the board 6 squares.
3. Tokens move clockwise around the main track (52 squares). The last square of the main track is 50 squares ahead of your start square. After that, a token goes through your color’s home column (5 squares) and into home at the center. Home is exactly 56 squares from your start square, and a token can enter it only with an exact roll (a token cannot move if the roll would take it past home).
4. If you land on a square with only one opposing token, you capture it and send it back to its yard. However, each color’s start square and the star squares (8 squares in total) are safe squares, where you cannot capture opposing tokens. On a safe square, tokens of different colors share the same square.
5. A square with 2 or more tokens of the same color is a block, and opposing tokens cannot land on it. They may pass over it. When an opponent has a block on your start square, you cannot bring a token out of your yard.
6. When you roll a 6, capture an opposing token, or get a token home, you roll again (only once, even if more than one of these happens). If you roll three 6s in a row, the third 6 cannot be used and your turn ends. Tokens moved with the first 2 rolls stay where they are.
7. If any token can move, you must move one of them. If no token can move, your turn ends (if you rolled a 6, you roll again).
8. The first player to get all 4 tokens home wins. The other players are not ranked.

Controls on this page

In the menu, choose the number of players (2, 3, or 4), then press a mode button. With “Easy”, “Medium”, or “Hard” under “Play vs computer”, you are Red and the computer moves the tokens of the other colors. With “4 players on this device” (the number is the one you chose), players take turns on one device and a person plays every color.

When it is your turn, press the die in the center of the board or press the “Roll the die” button. Tokens that can move get a gold ring at their base and a gold marker above their heads. On desktop, hover the mouse over a token to show its destination, and click it to move. On phones and tablets, the first tap shows the destination, and tapping the same token again moves it. You can also select a token by tapping its destination square.

The “Button controls” panel to the right of the board (below it on narrow screens) offers the same actions. It has a button for each token (when you play on this device, for each token of the color whose turn it is). Each button shows the token’s current position and where the roll takes it, and moves that capture an opposing token are marked “Capture”. With this panel, you can play on devices that do not show the 3D board, or with the keyboard alone. At the bottom of the panel, you can see the last roll and the token that moved, and how many tokens of each color are home, on the board, and in the yard.

The board is shown with your color’s yard at the near left (Red when you play the computer or play on this device). Drag to rotate the board, and use the mouse wheel or 2 fingers to zoom in and out. Switch views with the “Angled” and “Top-down” buttons at the top right of the board. An orange ring marks the square the last moved token started from.

When you play the computer or play on this device, “Undo move” returns to the position before a person last moved a token (when you play the computer, the computer’s moves after that are undone too). The roll stays as it was, and you choose again which token to move with the same roll (you cannot roll again). When there is no position to go back to, such as right after rolling, the button is disabled. “Play again” starts over with the same number of players, and “Change mode” returns to the menu.

To play with friends, press “Play a friend (send a link)” and send the link shown to the people who will join. The host is Red, and each person who opens the link and presses “Join” takes the seat of an open color. If you press “Fill empty seats with the computer” before everyone has joined, the computer (Medium) plays the empty seats. In games with 3 or more players, “Leave (the computer takes over)” replaces “Resign”, and the computer takes over the seat of a player who leaves. When a player is disconnected, the computer plays their turns once 45 seconds have passed since the disconnection, and control returns to the player when they reconnect.

Strategy tips

• When you roll a 6, bring your second and third tokens onto the board early. The more tokens you have on the board, the more choice you have about which token to move with each roll.
• If one of your tokens is alone 1–6 squares ahead of an opposing token, it may be captured on that opponent’s next turn. Tokens on start squares and star squares cannot be captured.
• Putting 2 tokens of the same color on one square makes a block, and opposing tokens coming from behind cannot land on that square.
• A captured token goes back to its yard and cannot come onto the board until a 6 is rolled. The capturing player also rolls again, so when you roll a number that lets you capture, consider the capturing move first.
• Tokens in the home column cannot be captured. Near home you need an exact roll, so keeping other tokens on the board means fewer turns that end because the roll cannot be used.

Origin and history of Ludo

Ludo is based on Pachisi, a board game from India. Pachisi has been played in India for centuries and uses a cross-shaped board. Tokens start from the center, go once around the board, and return to the center.^[2][4]

In Pachisi, players throw 5–7 cowrie shells instead of dice, and the number of shells that land mouth up decides how far to move. The name comes from pachis, the Hindi word for “25”, which is the highest number a throw of the shells can give.^[1][2]

Chaupar is a game played on the same cross-shaped board with 3 long dice. The oldest known descriptions of these games are said to date from the 16th century, and Chaupar was often played at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar. Akbar is said to have built a large board in a courtyard of his palace at Fatehpur Sikri and played with people as the pieces. It is not known how long these games had been played before that.^[1][3]

In Britain, a simplified form of Pachisi was sold under the name Ludo in 1896. Ludo means “I play” in Latin. It uses a single cube-shaped die instead of shells.^[3][5]

In versions of Ludo played in India and elsewhere in South Asia, the board often has a safe square in each of its 4 sections, marked with a star. On the board on this page as well, the star square 8 squares ahead of each color’s start square is a safe square.^[5]

Sources

1. W. Norman Brown, “The Indian Games of Pachisi, Chaupar, and Chausar” (Expedition, vol. 6, no. 3, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1964) (opens in a new tab)
2. Victoria and Albert Museum, “The Popular Round Game of Patchesi” (collection object description) (opens in a new tab)
3. James Masters, “Pachisi & Ludo” (The Online Guide to Traditional Games) (opens in a new tab)
4. Wikipedia (English), “Pachisi” (opens in a new tab)
5. Wikipedia (English), “Ludo” (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

How many players can play Ludo?

Ludo is for 2–4 players. You choose the number in the menu. With 2 players, Red and Yellow (on opposite sides) are used, and with 3 players, Red, Green, and Yellow. When you play the computer, you’re Red and the computer moves the other colors. You can also take turns on one device, with a person playing every color.

Do I need a 6 to bring a token onto the board?

Yes. You can bring a token out of your yard onto your start square only when you roll a 6. If you roll anything other than a 6 while you have no tokens on the board, no token can move, so your turn ends. A 6 lets you roll again, but if you roll three 6s in a row, the third 6 can’t be used and your turn ends.

What are safe squares (star squares and start squares)?

They’re squares where you can’t capture opposing tokens. There are 8 in total: the 4 start squares, one for each color, and the 4 star squares 8 squares ahead of them. Landing on a safe square doesn’t send an opposing token back to its yard, and tokens of different colors share the square. With 2 or 3 players, all 8 squares are safe, including the start squares of unused colors. However, you can’t land on a square with an opposing block (2 or more tokens of the same color), even if it’s a safe square.

Can tokens pass through a block?

Yes. A block is a square with 2 or more tokens of the same color. Opposing tokens can’t land on it, but they can pass over it to squares beyond. If a roll would make a token land on a block, that token can’t move. When an opponent has a block on your start square, you can’t bring a token out of your yard, even if you roll a 6.

Do I need an exact roll to get a token home?

Yes. Home is exactly 56 squares from your start square, and if you roll more than the number of squares a token has left to home, that token can’t move. If another token can move, you move it, and if none can, your turn ends (if you rolled a 6, you roll again). Getting a token home lets you roll again.

How do I play online with friends in a game of 3–4 players?

Choose the number of players in the menu, press “Play a friend (send a link)”, and send the link shown to the people who will join. Each person who opens the link and presses “Join” takes the seat of an open color. If you press “Fill empty seats with the computer” before everyone has joined, the computer plays the empty seats. The computer also plays for a player who leaves during the game, and takes the turns of a player who has been disconnected for 45 seconds. A room is deleted 30 minutes after everyone has disconnected, or 24 hours after it was created.

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