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Ludo Rules: How to Play Ludo, Step by Step

Ludo is a dice race for two to four players. This page covers the standard rules, the points where households disagree, and exactly which choices our online board makes, so you know what to expect before your first roll.

Rules checked against our game code on 13 October 2026.

• The board
• Turn sequence
• Rolling a six
• Capturing
• Safe squares
• 2, 3 and 4 players
• House rules table
• Strategy
• FAQ

The Ludo board

A Ludo board is a cross laid on a 15 by 15 grid. The four corners are the yards, the arms of the cross carry the track, and the middle square is home. The diagram shows the board exactly as our game lays it out.

What you need and how to set up

You need a Ludo board, one six-sided die and four tokens in each of four colours. Every player picks a colour and places all four tokens in the matching yard. Nothing starts on the track. At a table, players usually roll to decide who goes first. Online there is nothing to set up: the board is dealt ready and red takes the first turn.

Object of the game

Be the first to move all four of your tokens out of the yard, once around the track and up your home column into the centre. In our game the first player to do so wins and the game ends there. We do not play on for the minor places.

Turn sequence

1. Roll the die. One die, one roll.
2. See what can move. A token in the yard needs a six. A token on the board can move if the roll does not carry it past home.
3. Move one token the full number rolled. You cannot split a roll between tokens, and you cannot decline a move if one is available.
4. Resolve the landing. Capture any opponents on an ordinary square.
5. Roll again or pass. You roll again after a six, a capture, or bringing a token home. Otherwise play passes clockwise to the next colour.

If no token can use the roll, your turn ends without a move. Online each step has a 30-second clock by default; let it run out and the game makes that roll or move for you so the table keeps going.

Leaving the yard

A token leaves the yard only on a six. It is placed on your coloured start square, and that placement uses up the six: the token does not also advance six squares. Because the six earns another roll, you can often move the new token straight away. Entering never captures anything, since the start square is safe for whoever is standing on it.

Rolling a six

A six gives you a choice, bring out a new token or move one already in play six squares, and then a second roll. Roll another six and you do it again. The third six in the same turn is the limit: it is cancelled, nothing moves for it, and the turn passes. What you did with the first two sixes stands.

One detail of our implementation: the count covers the whole turn, not just back-to-back throws. If you roll a six, then a four that captures and earns a bonus roll, then two more sixes, the last of those is your third and is cancelled.

Capturing

When your token finishes its move on an ordinary track square occupied by an opponent, that opponent goes back to its yard and needs a six to come out again. If two or more opposing tokens are standing there, all of them go back. You then get a bonus roll. Only the landing square matters. Tokens you pass over on the way are untouched, and you can never capture your own colour.

Safe squares

Our board has eight safe squares: the four coloured start squares and the four star squares, one on each arm. Counting from any start square, the star is the eighth square along, and the next colour's start square comes five squares after that. A token on a safe square cannot be captured, and tokens of different colours can stand there together. That includes an opponent parked on your own start square, which you cannot remove by bringing a token out. Home columns are safe as well, because no other colour can enter them.

Blocks

Many printed rule sets say two tokens of the same colour on one square form a block that opponents cannot pass or capture. Our version does not use blocks. Any token can pass any square, and two of your tokens sharing an ordinary square are both captured by a single opponent landing on them. Stack on a safe square or not at all.

Reaching home

After its lap, a token turns off the track at its gateway and into the home column of its own colour. There are five coloured squares and then the centre. Home must be reached by exact count. A token three steps from home can use a one, two or three; a four, five or six cannot be played on that token, so you must move a different one or, if nothing else can move, lose the turn. Bringing a token home earns a bonus roll.

Rules for 2, 3 and 4 players

• 4 players. Red, green, yellow and blue all play, each from its own corner. Turns run clockwise in that order. This is the busiest board, with the most captures.
• 3 players. Red, green and yellow play and the blue corner stays empty. Red has the open quarter of the board behind it and yellow has it in front, so the game is slightly lopsided but plays by the same rules.
• 2 players. Red and yellow, in opposite corners. The start squares are 26 squares apart, exactly half the track, so neither side has a head start. With eight tokens instead of sixteen there is more room, fewer captures, and a quicker finish.

Every rule on this page applies at every player count. On our site, seats that are not taken by a person are filled by bots.

House rules: common variants and what our game uses

Ludo has no single official rulebook, which is why two people who both "know the rules" can still argue. These are the usual sticking points.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Strategy basics

1. Get a second token out early. With one token on the track every roll is forced. Two or more give you a choice each turn, and choice is where all the skill in Ludo lives.
2. Count the gap behind you. A token sitting one to six squares in front of an opponent can be hit by a single roll, roughly a one-in-six chance for any given distance. Seven or more squares ahead is much safer, because it takes a six followed by the exact remainder.
3. Hop between safe squares. On our board each star is eight squares after one start square and five before the next. When a roll lets you land on a star or a start square, that is usually the right move for a token in traffic.
4. Do not pair up for protection. In versions with blocks, doubling is a defence. Here it is the opposite: two tokens on an ordinary square are both sent back by one capture.
5. Take captures over distance. A capture costs the other player every square that token has travelled and hands you another roll. Hitting a token that is close to its home column is the biggest swing in the game.
6. Respect an opponent who still has tokens in the yard. The six that brings a token out also earns a second roll, so the six squares just past their start square are within reach in the same turn.

Ludo vs Pachisi vs Parcheesi and Parchís

Ludo belongs to the cross-and-circle family and descends from the Indian game Pachisi. It was marketed in England in 1896 and later patented and sold as Royal Ludo. The name is Latin for "I play". The relatives differ more than their boards suggest.

• Ludo. One cube die, a 52-square track, four tokens each, a six to enter. The simplest of the group.
• Pachisi. The Indian original, played on a cross-shaped board with cowrie shells thrown in place of dice. Pieces start from and return to the centre, four players usually form two partnerships, and marked castle squares give safety. You can play Pachisi online here too.
• Parcheesi. The American brand-name adaptation of Pachisi. Two dice, a 68-space track with 12 safe spaces, pieces enter on a five, two pieces together form a blockade, and captures and arrivals pay bonus moves of 20 and 10 spaces.
• Parchís. The Spanish game. It is played with a single die like Ludo but otherwise sits closer to Parcheesi: a longer track, entry on a five, barriers, and the same 20 and 10 bonuses.

Ludo rules FAQ