How to play Ludo
- Pick 2, 3 or 4 players, and whether the others are the computer or friends taking turns on this device. You play red against the computer and choose who starts.
- Click the die (or press Space) to roll. A 6 brings a token out of your yard onto your start square, and any 6 gives you another roll.
- Click a token to move it round the board, clockwise, then up your colored home column. Landing on another player’s token sends it back to its yard. The first player to get all four tokens home wins. Against the computer the game ends as soon as your place is settled; friends play on until only one player is left.
Tips for winning at Ludo
- Get tokens out early. Several tokens on the board give you more choices for every roll, so you’re less likely to waste one.
- Use the safe squares. Start squares and star squares can’t be captured. Stop on them when another player’s token is close behind.
- Don’t wait in front of others. A token one to six squares ahead of an opponent can be captured on their next roll.
- Capture when you can. Sending a token back costs its owner all its progress, and gives you another roll.
- Spread your risk. Moving one token far ahead feels fast, but a single capture can undo it. Keep at least one token near home and others in reserve.
About the game
Ludo is a race game for two to four players, adapted in England in the late 1800s from the Indian game Pachisi. Each player moves four tokens round a cross-shaped board by the roll of a die, trying to get them all home before anyone else. This version plays the common rules against the computer or with friends on one device, and saves your game as you go.