Ludo is a dice race for two to four players. Each player has four tokens waiting in a corner yard. Roll a 6 to bring a token out, move it once around the board, then up your own colored path to the center. Land on a rival and you send them back to their yard. The first to bring all four tokens home wins, and the others play on for second and third place. Play here with friends on one device, against computer players, or online with up to three friends, each on their own screen.
Ludo rules used here
- Each player has four tokens, which start in their yard. Players take turns clockwise, and on your turn you roll one die.
- A token leaves the yard only on a 6, and goes onto its color’s start square, marked with an arrow. An option lets a 1 bring a token out as well.
- Move any one of your tokens forward by the number rolled. If no token can move, the turn passes.
- Rolling a 6 gives you another roll after your move. Three 6s in a row lose the turn: the third 6 is not played, but moves made with the first two stand.
- Landing exactly on a square with a rival’s token sends it back to its yard. If two of their tokens are there, both go back. Capturing earns another roll, and that can be switched off.
- Start squares and the starred squares are safe: nobody can be captured there, so tokens of different colors can share them. Your own tokens can always share a square.
- After one lap a token turns into its own home column, where no one else can go. It needs an exact roll to reach home in the center. Bringing a token home earns another roll, which can also be switched off.
- The first player with all four tokens home takes first place, and the rest play on for the other places. An option ends the game as soon as the first player is home, placing the others by how far their tokens got.
How to play on this page
- Choose 2, 3 or 4 players, and for each color whether a person or the computer plays it. Computer players can be Easy, Medium or Hard, and you can mix levels.
- On your turn press Roll. Tokens that can move are ringed with a dashed circle. Tap one to move it. When there is only one possible move, the button changes to Move, so one tap is enough.
- Under "While playing" you can have the page roll for you at the start of your turn, and move for you when only one move is possible. Fast computer players save time in longer games.
- Each color has its own token shape, a circle, a triangle, a square or a diamond, so you never have to tell players apart by color alone.
- If every person at the device has finished, the computer players settle the remaining places at once.
- To play online, open Setup, choose "Friend online", choose 2, 3 or 4 players and send the link. Each friend presses "Join the game". You can start before everyone arrives, and the computer takes the empty seats.
- Your settings, the score and the game in progress are saved in this browser, so a reload carries on where you were.
Tips for winning
- Get tokens out early. A token in the yard is safe but useless, and having several on the board gives you a choice on every roll.
- Count the squares behind you. A rival token one to six squares behind yours has about a one in six chance of hitting it each turn.
- Use the safe squares. Stopping on a star or a start square costs nothing and keeps a far-travelled token out of danger.
- Capture when you can, especially tokens that have come a long way. Sending a nearly-home token back costs your rival far more than it costs you to wait.
- Don’t rush one token alone. Moving the token that is in danger, or the one that can capture, is usually better than racing your leader.
- Once a token is in its home column, it is safe. Use small rolls there when nothing else is worth doing.
About fair dice
Every roll on this page comes from your browser’s secure random number generator, the same kind used for encryption. Each face has exactly the same chance, and the computer players never see or choose a roll: they only decide which token to move after the die has been rolled, like everyone else.
In online games the server rolls the dice, checks every move with the same rules, and sends the result to every player at once, so no one’s browser can pick a number.
Ludo questions
- How many players can play?
- Two, three or four. With two players, they sit in opposite corners. You can fill any color with a computer player, so one person can play against one, two or three computers, and friends can share a device with or without computer players.
- Do I need a 6 to start?
- Yes, by default a token leaves its yard only on a 6. Many families, including many in Vietnam, also allow a 1, and you can switch that on under Rules.
- What happens on three 6s in a row?
- Your turn ends straight away. The third 6 is not played, but the moves you made with the first two 6s stay on the board.
- Are the dice really random?
- Yes. Rolls come from a cryptographically secure random source, every face is equally likely, and the computer players have no influence on the dice. Online, the server rolls for everyone.
- Can I play Ludo online with friends?
- Yes. Open Setup, choose "Friend online", choose how many players, and send the link. No account is needed. If someone loses their connection for more than a minute, the computer plays their tokens until they come back, so the game goes on for everyone else.
- Is there undo?
- No. With dice in the game, taking back a move would also mean taking back a roll, so every move counts. Changing a setting in the middle of a game asks first.