Ludo
Roll the die, bring your blue tokens out with a 6 and race them once around the board and up your home column. Land on a rival token to send it back to its yard.
How to play Ludo
How to play
You play Blue and roll first; the computer colours follow clockwise. Tap Roll or press Space, then tap a marked token to move it by the number on the die, or choose one with the arrow keys and press Enter. A token only leaves your yard on a 6, which puts it on your start square, and every 6 gives you another roll. If you roll three 6s in a row, the third one is lost and your turn ends. If no token can move, the turn passes, except that a 6 still rolls again.
Taking tokens and safe squares
End your move on a square with another colour’s token and it goes back to its yard; if two or more of them stand there, they all go back. The four coloured start squares and the four stars are safe: no token can be taken there, and different colours can share them. Your home column, the five squares of your colour leading to the centre, is yours alone, so a token there is safe too.
Getting home
After one lap a token turns into your home column and needs the exact count to reach home in the centre: a roll that would take it past home can’t be used for that token. The first player with every token home wins. 3 opponents is the classic game and takes about ten minutes, 1 opponent (Gold) about five, and the Quick game gives all four colours two tokens each. The daily is a game against one opponent with the same dice for everyone.
Tips
Bring tokens out early, stop on a star when a rival is up to six squares behind you, and look for a roll that takes a token. The computers weigh captures, safety, getting tokens out and the race home, and only know the die they just rolled. Auto-move plays a move by itself when it is the only one. In free games Undo takes back your last move and the computers’ replies, with the same dice, because every roll of a game is fixed when it starts. The daily has no take-backs once the next die is rolled, so everyone plays the same dice the same way.
Questions
What are the rules of Ludo?
Each player has four tokens in a yard (two each in the Quick game). Roll a 6 to bring one out, then move your tokens clockwise by the number on the die, once around the board and up your home column to the centre. Landing on a rival token sends it back to its yard. The first player with all tokens home wins.
Do you need a 6 to start in Ludo?
Yes. Here a token only leaves the yard on a 6, and the 6 also gives you another roll. Until you have a token out, any other number means your turn passes.
Which squares are safe in Ludo?
The four coloured start squares and the four star squares. A token on one of them can’t be taken, and tokens of different colours may share them. Your home column is safe as well, because only your own tokens can enter it.
How do you capture a token in Ludo?
Finish your move exactly on a square where another colour’s token stands, as long as it isn’t a safe square, and that token goes back to its yard. It needs a 6 to come out again. Passing over a token does nothing.
Any tips for winning at Ludo?
Get several tokens out so every roll gives you a choice, use stars and start squares as stepping stones when rivals are close behind, and take a token whenever the die allows. Once a token reaches your home column it is safe, so hurry the ones still out on the track.