How to play
Ludo is the classic race around the cross-shaped board. You are red and start in the bottom-left yard. The computer plays green, yellow and blue. Pick 2, 3 or 4 players in the menu; with two players you sit in opposite corners. Each player has 4 pawns, or 2 if you choose the quick game.
Every pawn travels the same route: out of the yard onto its coloured start square, once around the 52-square track clockwise, then up its own coloured home column into the centre. That is 51 squares of track, 5 column squares and the centre, 57 steps in all. The first player to bring every pawn into the centre wins.
On your turn, tap the die. Pawns you can move start glowing; tap one to move it. If only one pawn can move, it moves by itself after the roll. If none can, the turn passes on its own and the message line tells you why.
The rules this version applies:
- Leaving the yard needs a 6. The pawn is placed on your start square and you roll again. Optionally, a player with no pawn on the board may bring one out on any roll.
- A 6 earns another roll, whether or not you could move. Roll three 6s in a row and the third one is not played: your turn ends on the spot. You can switch this rule off in the menu.
- Captures. Land on a square holding an opponent’s pawn and that pawn goes back to its yard. You roll again for the capture (optional). Landing on several opponent pawns at once sends them all home.
- Safe squares. The four start squares and the four starred squares are safe: nobody can be captured there, and pawns of different colours share them.
- Blocks. Two or more pawns of one colour on the same square form a block that opponents cannot land on. Blocks can be passed over, and the rule can be switched off, in which case landing on a block captures every pawn in it.
- Exact finish. A pawn needs the exact number to enter the centre. A roll that would overshoot cannot be used for that pawn. Pawns in the home column are out of everybody’s reach.
The game ends as soon as one player has all pawns home. Turn on Keep playing for places in the menu and the others carry on until only one player is left; the results screen then shows the finishing order.
The Menu button pauses the game and lets you change the settings or give up. Your game is saved after every roll and move, so you can close the page and return later. Hint appears whenever you have a real choice and marks the pawn our computer player would move.
Strategy
Ludo is a dice game, but the choice of pawn matters far more than it looks. Over a long game the player who makes the better choices wins clearly more often than one who always moves the leading pawn.
- Finish and capture first. A pawn that can reach the centre, or land on an enemy, almost always should. A capture costs your opponent up to 50 squares of progress and gives you an extra roll.
- Count the squares behind you. A pawn is in danger when an opponent sits 1 to 6 squares behind it on a square that is not safe. Before you move a pawn forward, check what will be behind it when it lands. Moving a safe pawn into range of an enemy is the most common mistake.
- Stars are rest stops. Plan moves that end on a start square or a star when enemies are around. A pawn on a safe square can wait there for a good roll without risk.
- Bring new pawns out on a 6. An extra pawn on the board gives you more choices later and keeps a 6 from being wasted on a pawn that only wants to advance 1 square.
- Use blocks near your home column. Two of your pawns together on a square cannot be captured and cannot be landed on, which makes a strong wall right in front of an opponent’s start.
- Do not race one pawn alone. The lone leader draws every enemy pawn behind it. Spreading progress over several pawns gives you something useful to do with every roll.
The computer players follow exactly these priorities: finish, capture, reach safety, escape danger, avoid danger, bring a pawn out, then advance the pawn that is furthest along. The hint uses the same logic.
By the numbers
We simulated 1,000 games for each setting with our computer player taking every seat:
| Setting | Average actions per game |
|---|---|
| 4 players, 4 pawns | about 810 rolls and moves |
| 4 players, 2 pawns (quick) | about 310 |
| 2 players, 4 pawns | about 325 |
| 2 players, 2 pawns (quick) | about 150 |
A full four-player game with four pawns is a long evening of Ludo. If you want something that finishes in ten minutes, pick the quick game or two players. Seat order barely matters: in 1,000 four-player games the first seat won 27% of the time and the last seat 24%.
