How to Play Ludo

About the Game

Ludo is a classic strategy board game that has been a staple of Indian households for generations — played by children and elders alike on lazy Sunday afternoons, during festivals, and on family get-togethers. Derived from the ancient Indian game Pachisi, Ludo strips the game down to its pure, joyful essence: roll the dice, race your tokens around the board, and get them all home before anyone else does.

Simple to learn but full of tense moments — a lucky 6, a last-second capture, a token sent back to square one — Ludo has kept players of all ages at the edge of their seats for over a century.

Objective

Be the first player to move all 4 of your tokens from your home area, around the entire board, and into the centre trophy cell.

The Board

• The board is a 15 × 15 grid with four coloured quadrants — Red (top-left), Green (top-right), Yellow (bottom-right), and Blue (bottom-left).
• Each quadrant has a home area (4 circles) where that player's tokens begin.
• A 52-cell shared path runs around the outer ring of the board. All tokens travel this loop.
• Each colour has a private 5-cell trophy path (coloured lane) leading toward the centre.
• The centre trophy cell is the destination all tokens must reach to finish.

Game Setup

• Games can be played with 2 or 4 players.
• In a 2-player game, the two colours are always placed directly opposite each other on the board.
• Each player starts with all 4 tokens at home and zero on the board.
• Turn order follows colour sequence: Red → Green → Yellow → Blue (only active colours participate).

Taking a Turn

• On your turn, roll the dice. The result is a number from 1 to 6.
• If you have movable tokens, choose one to advance by the dice value.
• If no token can legally move, your turn is skipped automatically.

Leaving Home

• A token can only leave home on a roll of 6.
• When you roll a 6 and bring a token out, it is placed on your colour's start cell (marked with a ⭐).
• Rolling a 6 also earns you a bonus roll — take another turn immediately.

Movement

• Tokens travel clockwise around the shared 52-cell main path.
• Each colour enters the main path at its own start cell and travels the full loop.
• A token cannot move past the finish — if the dice value would overshoot, that token is not movable that turn.
• Once a token completes the main loop, it turns onto its colour's private trophy path and heads toward the centre.

Bonus Rolls

You earn an extra roll immediately after any of the following:

Captures

• If your token lands on a cell occupied by a single enemy token, that token is captured and sent back to its home.
• If two or more enemy tokens are on the same cell, they form a fortress — your token cannot land there.
• You cannot capture tokens on safe cells (marked ⭐) or on the trophy path.

Safe Cells

• Cells marked with a ⭐ star are safe zones — no capture can happen there.
• Each colour's start cell is always a safe cell.
• There are additional safe cells placed around the board as well.
• Once a token enters its own trophy path, it is also safe from capture.

Winning

• The first player to get all 4 tokens to the trophy cell wins the game.
• Each token must land exactly on the trophy cell — no overshooting allowed.

Scoring Online games only

Points are awarded during online games and count toward your leaderboard rank:

Points are not awarded in VS AI games.