Ludo

Players and equipment

Two to four players, a Ludo board, four pieces in each player's colour and one die. The board is a cross: a track of squares runs round the outside, each player has a yard in the corner of their colour, and a coloured column runs from each arm of the cross up to the centre. The die is on the phone if yours has gone missing, and SquareScores keeps the match table: each race is one match, and the winner is a tap on their name.

The deal

No deal. Everybody puts their four pieces in their yard, the corner of their colour. Each player rolls once; the highest goes first, and play passes clockwise.

Play

On your turn, roll the die and move one of your pieces that many squares clockwise round the track.

A piece leaves the yard only on a six, onto your coloured start square. A six also earns another roll. Most tables end the turn on a third six in a row.

Land exactly on a rival's piece and it goes back to its yard. After a full lap, a piece turns off the track up your own home column and must reach the centre by exact count.

Roll a six

Bring a piece out, or move six — then roll again

Land on a rival

Their piece goes back to its yard

Home column

Only your own pieces go up it

The centre

Reached by exact count only

If no piece of yours can use the number rolled, the turn passes. A piece in your home column is safe, because no rival can enter it; whether a piece on its own start square is safe is the rule tables disagree on most, so settle it before the first roll.

Scoring

No points. A match is one race, and the sheet records who won it. Over a series the standing is simply races won; a race stopped before anyone finishes is closed with nobody tapped and shows as a game played that nobody won.

A worked match

Alice, Ben, Cara and Dev play four races and record each on the match table as it ends.

Race 1

Cara

Cara gets all four pieces out early and brings the last one home on an exact two

Race 2

Ben

Ben sends Alice's leading piece back twice and finishes with two of hers still in the yard

Race 3

Alice

Alice's last piece sits three from the centre for five turns, then rolls the three

Race 4

Cara

Cara again, with Dev one square short when she finishes

After race 1 Cara's name is tapped, the race files and the next row opens; Ben in race 2, Alice in race 3, Cara in race 4. The table reads Cara 2, Alice 1, Ben 1, Dev 0, four played. Second and third are recorded only if the host chose a podium at launch and the table plays on for them. A mis-tap on the last race can be taken back until the next one has something in it.

Ending

The first player with all four pieces in the centre wins — tap their name. If the table wants second and third place too, play on and agree it before the first roll.

Get your pieces out

A piece in the yard cannot be caught, but it cannot win either, and a player with one piece on the track has to move that piece whatever the die says. With two or three out, every roll gives you a choice, and choice is the whole of the skill in Ludo. Use your sixes to bring pieces out until you have at least two on the board, and only then think about racing one of them home.

Which piece to move

Move the piece that gains most or risks least. A piece far round the board has cost you many rolls to get there and costs you all of them if it is sent home, so it is the one to hurry into your home column when a rival is close behind. A piece just out of the yard has cost you one six and is cheap to lose; it is the one to leave exposed.

Sending rivals home

A rival within six squares behind you can catch you with one roll, about one chance in six for any particular number, and you can catch any rival within six squares ahead. Before you move, look at what will be six or fewer squares behind each of your pieces once it lands, and prefer squares where nothing is. The best captures are of pieces on the far side of their lap, because that undoes the most work.

Safe squares and the home column

Whatever your table agrees about start squares, the home column is always safe, and the centre safest of all. When a piece of yours is being chased and the numbers allow it, turn up the column rather than gamble on one more track square. Near the end the exact count matters more than speed: a piece two from the centre needs a two and a five is wasted on it, so keep another piece on the track to use the big numbers on.

Blocking

On tables that play blocks, two of your own pieces on one square make a wall no rival may pass or land on. A block just in front of a rival's start square, or in the stretch before your own home column, can hold up a whole colour for turns on end while you bring your other pieces round. Time it: hold it while the rivals bunch up behind, and break it with a roll that takes the front piece to safety.

Parcheesi

The American cousin, from the same Indian ancestor. Two dice instead of one, a piece leaves the yard on a five rather than a six, two pieces of one colour on a square make a blockade nobody may pass, and some squares are marked safe. Sending a rival home earns a bonus move of twenty squares and bringing a piece home earns ten, each taken with any of your pieces.

Sorry!

The boxed game that replaces the die with a deck of cards: each card says how far a pawn moves, some let you move backwards or swap places with a rival, and the Sorry! card takes a pawn from your start and drops it on a rival's, sending theirs home. The board has slides that carry a pawn along and knock off anything on them.

No six to start

Any roll brings a piece out of the yard, or each player begins with one piece already on their start square. Games are quicker and nobody sits through twenty turns waiting for a six, which is why it is the house rule in most homes with young children.

One piece each

Each player races a single piece round the board and home. A five-minute game with all the catching and none of the choosing, good for the youngest players.

Blocks

Two pieces of one colour on the same square form a block that no rival may land on or pass over. It adds a tactical layer to a game otherwise decided by the die, and turns a leading piece into something worth defending.

A capture earns a turn

Some tables give an extra roll for sending a rival home, or for getting a piece into the centre, or both. It rewards the aggressive game and speeds up the end, and it stacks with the six: a six that captures is two more rolls.

Pachisi

The game Ludo was simplified from, played in India for centuries on a cross-shaped cloth with cowrie shells thrown for the numbers, four pieces each and the players opposite one another as partners.

Do you need a six to start in Ludo?

Under the standard rules, yes: a piece leaves the yard only on a six, onto your start square, and the six earns another roll. Many families drop the rule and let any number bring a piece out, or start everyone with one piece already on the board, because waiting for a six is the slowest part of the game. Agree before the first roll.

What happens if you roll three sixes in Ludo?

On most tables your turn ends and the third six is not moved. The first six is played and earns a second roll; a second six is played and earns a third; a third six in a row forfeits the turn. Some tables let all three count, and some send the last piece you moved back to the yard; the usual rule is simply that the turn passes.

Can you land on your own piece in Ludo?

Under the standard rules, no: a square holds one piece, so if the only move the die gives you lands on your own piece you must move a different piece, or lose the turn if you cannot. On tables that play blocks, two of your own pieces on one square is exactly what you are trying to do, and the pair then stops rivals passing.

Are there safe squares in Ludo?

The home column is safe, because only your own pieces may enter it, and the centre is the finish. Whether the four coloured start squares are safe is the rule tables argue about: on many boards a piece on its own start square cannot be sent home, and some boards have starred squares round the track where nothing can be captured. The box rules vary by maker, so say which you play before you start.

Can you be sent home from the home column in Ludo?

No. Only your own pieces may go up your home column, so nothing can land on a piece in it. Once a piece turns off the track it is safe; all that is left is to roll the exact number to reach the centre.

Do you have to move if you can in Ludo?

Yes. If any of your pieces can use the number rolled you must move one of them, even when every move on offer is a bad one. You choose which piece, and that choice is the game. Only when no piece can use the number does the turn pass.

How many players can play Ludo?

Two, three or four, one colour each. With two, sit opposite one another so the start squares are as far apart as possible, which gives the most catching.

Can you pass another piece in Ludo?

Yes. Under the standard rules pieces jump over anything in their path and only the square you land on matters, which is where a rival is sent home. Tables that play blocks are the exception: two rival pieces together on one square cannot be passed, and you must move another piece or wait.