How to Play Ludo: The Complete Rules Guide

Ludo is a race game for two to four players. Everyone starts with four tokens tucked away in a corner of the board, and the goal is simple: be the first to move all four of them around the board and into home. The rules fit on a single page, yet the small details (when you earn a bonus roll, which squares are safe, what happens on a third six) decide a surprising number of games.

This guide explains the rules exactly as they work on Thunder Ludo, which follows the standard modern rules used by most online Ludo games. Where tabletop players commonly do things differently, we point it out. Our guide to Ludo house rules and variations covers those differences in depth.

What you need

• Players: two, three or four.
• A board: the classic cross-shaped Ludo board, described below.
• Tokens: four per player, in red, green, yellow and blue.
• One six-sided die.

Online, all you need is a browser. The board, tokens and die are handled for you, and the game enforces every rule automatically, so there is never an argument about what is allowed.

The Ludo board

A Ludo board is a square with a large cross running through it. Each part has a name that you will see throughout this guide:

• Yards (also called bases) are the four large coloured squares in the corners. Each player’s four tokens wait in their yard at the start of the game, and captured tokens are sent back there.
• The track is the loop of 52 white squares running around the arms of the cross. Every token travels around it clockwise, and all players share it.
• Start squares are the coloured squares on the track just outside each yard. A token leaving its yard is placed on its own start square.
• Star squares are four track squares marked with a star. Together with the start squares, they are the board’s safe squares.
• Home columns are the coloured lanes of five squares leading from the edge of the board towards the centre, one per colour. Only tokens of that colour may enter.
• Home is the triangle of your colour in the centre of the board. A token that reaches it is finished.

Counting from its start square, each token needs exactly 56 steps to finish: 50 steps around the track, 5 steps up its home column and one final step into home.

The objective

Be the first player to bring all four of your tokens home. In games with three or four players, the game continues after the winner finishes, so that the remaining places can be decided.

Starting the game

All tokens begin in their yards. Players take turns in clockwise order, rolling the die once per turn plus any bonus rolls they earn. At a physical table, players usually roll once each to decide who goes first, and the highest roll starts. On Thunder Ludo, the turn order is set automatically when the match begins.

Leaving the yard: you need a six

A token can only leave its yard when you roll a 6. When you do, you may move one token from your yard onto your start square. Because a six also earns a bonus roll, you then roll again straight away, and you can use that roll on the token you just brought out or on any other token you have on the board.

If all of your tokens are still in the yard and you roll anything other than a six, you can’t move and your turn passes. This is the slowest part of the game for most players. With an ordinary die it takes six turns on average to roll a six, although half of the time you will get one within four turns (our Ludo dice odds guide has the full numbers).

Moving your tokens

On each roll, choose one of your tokens on the board and move it forward exactly the number of squares shown on the die, clockwise around the track. A few rules apply:

• One token per roll. You can’t split a roll between two tokens.
• Forward only. Tokens never move backwards, except when they are captured and sent back to the yard.
• Jumping is allowed. Tokens pass over other tokens of any colour without affecting them.
• If a move is possible, you make one. You choose which token to move, but you can’t skip your move while a legal one exists.
• No legal move, no move. If none of your tokens can use the roll, your turn simply passes.

On Thunder Ludo, if only one of your tokens can legally move, the game moves it for you automatically. The same happens when every token that can move is standing on the same square, since the choice would make no difference.

Bonus rolls

You earn an extra roll immediately when you:

1. roll a 6, whatever you use it for;
2. capture an opponent’s token; or
3. move a token into home.

Bonus rolls can chain together. You might roll a 6 and bring a new token out, then roll a 4 and capture an opponent with it, which earns yet another roll. Turns like this are how games swing, so keep an eye out for moves that give you an extra roll.

Three sixes in a row

Sixes are powerful, so there is a limit. If you roll three sixes in a row during the same turn, the third six is cancelled and your turn ends immediately. Moves you already made with the first two sixes stay where they are. Thunder Ludo’s dice make a third consecutive six rare, but the rule still applies when it happens.

Capturing

If your token finishes its move on a square occupied by a single opponent token, you capture it. Players also call this a “cut” or a “kill”. The captured token goes back to its yard and must wait for another six to come out again, losing all of the progress it had made. Capturing also earns you a bonus roll.

• Only the square where your token lands counts. Passing over a token does nothing.
• You can’t capture on a safe square, and you can’t capture a block. Both are explained below.
• Capturing is optional. If you prefer another move, you can make it.
• A token that has just come out onto its start square can’t be captured there, because start squares are safe.

Safe squares

The track has eight safe squares: the four coloured start squares and the four star squares. Each star sits eight squares past a start square. Any number of tokens, of any colours, can share a safe square, and none of them can be captured there.

Your home column is safe too, because opponents can never enter it. Once a token turns into its home column, it can no longer be captured.

Blocks

When two or more of your own tokens stand on the same square, they form a block. On Thunder Ludo a block can’t be captured: if an opponent lands on it, the opponent’s token simply shares the square and nothing happens. Blocks don’t stop movement, though. Any token can pass over a block or land on it.

That makes blocks a defensive tool rather than a wall. If you have to wait somewhere dangerous, waiting there as a pair keeps both tokens safe. In some tabletop versions a block can’t be passed at all; see house rules and variations.

The home column and finishing

After a full lap of the track, your token doesn’t carry on around the board. It turns into your home column and heads for the centre. To finish, a token must reach home with an exact roll. You can’t overshoot.

For example, if a token is three steps from home, a roll of 3 takes it home, and a 1 or a 2 moves it closer. A 4, 5 or 6 can’t be used on that token at all, so you would have to move a different token instead, or lose the roll if no other move is possible. Bringing a token home earns a bonus roll.

Winning and final places

The first player to get all four tokens home wins and takes first place. In a three or four-player game, everyone else keeps playing for the remaining places, and the game ends when only one player still has tokens left to bring home. That player finishes last.

A match can also end early when a player leaves, lets the timer run out too often or stays disconnected for too long; the next section covers those rules. Signed-in players have their wins, losses and other stats recorded after every match, and those feed the leaderboard.

Timers and auto-play online

Online games need a way to keep moving when someone steps away. On Thunder Ludo:

• You have 30 seconds to roll. If time runs out, the game rolls for you.
• After rolling, you have 15 seconds to choose a token. If you don’t, the game moves one for you.
• If the game has to roll for you more than five times in one match, the match ends as a loss for you.
• The same happens if the time you spend inactive on your turns adds up to two minutes over the match.
• If your connection drops, your seat is held for two minutes so that you can reconnect and carry on.

Quick reference

Common questions

Do I need a six to enter the home column?

No. A six is only needed to bring a token out of the yard. After that, any roll can move it, as long as the move doesn’t overshoot home.

Can two tokens of different colours share a square?

Yes, on a safe square, or when the token already there is part of a block. On any other square, a token landing on a lone opponent captures it.

Do I have to capture when I can?

No. Capturing is optional on Thunder Ludo. It is usually a good idea, because it sets an opponent back and gives you a bonus roll, but it is never forced.

What happens if I can’t use my roll?

If none of your tokens can legally move, your turn passes to the next player.

How many turns does a game take?

More than most people expect. In our simulations, a single player needed about 68 turns on average to bring all four tokens home in a race with no captures at all. Real games take longer, because captures send tokens back to the start. The dice odds guide explains the simulation.

Now that you know the rules, our strategy guide will help you turn them into wins.