Ludo looks like a dice game right up to the moment someone lands on you and sends a token that was three squares from home all the way back to base. That capture is the whole game. The dice decide how far you can move; you decide which token moves, and over four tokens and fifty-odd turns those choices are the difference between a player who wins one game in four and one who wins most of them. Our Ludo runs in the browser with nothing to install, against three computer players, as a two-player duel, or as a four-player pass-and-play on one phone, and this guide covers the rules it uses, the handful of squares that matter, and the habits that beat the CPU.
The rules in one paragraph
Each player has four tokens in a base and a coloured entry square in front of it. You need a six to move a token out of base onto that entry square. After that, every roll moves one token that many squares clockwise around the outer track, then up your own coloured home column and onto the centre, which needs an exact roll. Landing on a square occupied by a rival token sends that token back to its base, unless the square is a star or a coloured entry square, which are both safe. Rolling a six, capturing a rival, or getting a token home all earn you another roll. Three sixes in a row forfeits the turn. The first player with all four tokens in the centre wins.
Two details trip up people who learned a house version. There is no stacking rule here: two of your own tokens on one square do not form a block, so a rival can still land there and capture both of them at once. And the home column is safe by construction, because only your own tokens can enter it, so a token that turns off the outer track has nothing left to fear except the exact-roll finish.
Count six squares, every turn
A single roll can be anything from one to six, so the only squares a rival can reach on their next turn are the six squares in front of each of their tokens. That is the whole of Ludo's danger map. Before you move, look at each of your tokens on the outer track and ask one question: is there an enemy token one to six squares behind it? If yes, that token is exposed. If no, it is safe for one more turn whatever the dice do.
The same count runs the other way. A rival token one to six squares in front of one of yours is a capture you can attempt, and since a capture also gives you an extra roll, landing on it is worth more than the squares you would have gained by advancing something else. The computer opponents here play exactly this way, taking a capture over an advance almost every time and avoiding parking inside your six-square zone, so a win against three of them is a real result and not a gift.
The squares worth planning around
The star squares and the four coloured entry squares are safe: a token sitting on one cannot be captured. On a standard board there are eight of them spaced around the track, roughly every six or seven squares, which is no accident. A token that hops from safe square to safe square can cross most of the board without ever being exposed, and the trade-off is that it moves only when the dice offer the exact distance. In practice that means a safe square is where you rest a token while you spend your other rolls elsewhere, and where you sit still when an enemy is lurking behind you.
The coloured entry squares have a second property: an opponent's token leaves base onto their own entry square, which means the six squares in front of that square are the most dangerous real estate on the board. Every six a rival rolls can put a fresh token there, and a fresh token does not care how far your piece has travelled. Move through the stretch in front of each enemy base quickly, and do not stop there if any other move is legal.
Which token to move
Most Ludo is played with a choice of three or four legal moves, and the order of priority is short:
- Capture if you can. It removes a rival's progress and gives you a bonus roll.
- Get a token out of danger, either onto a safe square or beyond the six-square reach of the token behind it.
- Bring a token home when the exact number comes up, because it also gives you a bonus roll and one fewer token to defend.
- Release a token from base on a six when you have fewer than two tokens in play. One runner is a target; two or three give you options.
- Advance the token nearest home when nothing above applies, since the closer a token is to its home column, the fewer turns it stays exposed.
The mistake almost every beginner makes is the opposite of point four: releasing all four tokens on the first four sixes and then having four exposed runners and no spare moves. Two tokens in play is usually right early on. A third comes out when one of the first two is home or parked on a safe square.
Sixes, extra rolls and the three-six rule
An extra roll is not just a free move; it is the chance to move twice with the same token and jump clean through a danger zone, or to release a token from base and then move it straight off the entry square before anyone gets a look at it. When a six comes up, decide the two moves together. And remember the forfeit: three sixes in a row ends the turn and you lose all three. It is not something you can plan for, but it is a reason not to feel too clever after the second one.
Endgame: the exact-roll finish
The centre needs an exact roll, so a token one square from home is stuck until a one appears, which happens on one roll in six. Tokens waiting in the home column are safe, so this is not dangerous, only slow, and the way to avoid it is to spend rolls on other tokens while the leader waits. If your last token is the one waiting, there is nothing to do but roll, which is why finishing a game with two tokens close to home at once is better than finishing with one.
Playing the four-player pass-and-play
The four-player mode turns one phone or laptop into a board that four people can crowd around, with no accounts and nothing to install. Two things make it work in person: pass the device after the roll is finished, not before, so nobody sees a six coming, and agree in advance that the game's ruling on a capture is final, which saves the argument about whether the star square counted. Two players sit across opposite corners in the duel mode, which is a faster game with more open track between the tokens. The win tally is kept between visits, so a series can run over an evening.
Where Ludo comes from
Ludo is a simplified version of Pachisi, the cross-and-circle race game of India, whose name comes from the Hindi word for twenty-five, the highest throw of its cowrie-shell dice. Pachisi was played on cloth boards with tokens and shells; the Mughal emperor Akbar is said to have played it on a courtyard board at Fatehpur Sikri with servants as the pieces. The cubic-die version, with the four corner bases and the cross-shaped track, was marketed in England in 1896 by Alfred Collier, who patented it as Royal Ludo under British patent 14636. The Royal Navy's Uckers descends from it, as do the coloured plastic sets that most of us learned on. This version is 360 PlayZone's own take on the classic, with the standard rules above and no house additions.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Ludo online with friends on different devices?
Not here. Our Ludo is single-device: you play the computer, or two to four people share one screen by passing it around. There is no online matchmaking and no account, which is also why it loads in a second and works on a school or office network.
Is a six the only way to get a token out of base?
Yes, in the standard rules this game uses. A six moves a token onto your entry square and gives you another roll, so the usual play is to release the token and then move it off the entry square with the bonus roll.
What happens if I roll three sixes in a row?
The turn is forfeited: you lose all three moves and play passes to the next player. The rule exists to stop a streak of sixes from deciding a game on its own.
If you like Ludo's mix of luck and planning, Mancala is the other two-player race where counting squares wins, Backgammon is the same idea with dice and captures on a longer track, and Checkers removes the dice entirely. Our Desi games list has Carrom and the rest of the games most Indian households already know, and the best two-player games covers everything you can play on one screen.
Play Ludo free in your browser: three computer rivals, a two-player duel or four-player pass-and-play, standard rules, on a phone or a desktop, with nothing to download. Count six squares behind every token before you move, and see how the win tally looks after ten games.