Ludo Classic

Ludo Classic — how to play and tips

Ludo Classic is a free online version of the board game that families across India and the world have played for generations. Four colored teams race four tokens each around a cross-shaped board and up their own home column to the center. It is part luck and part strategy: the dice decide how far you can move, but you decide which token to move, when to take a risk and when to play safe. You can play against one computer opponent for a quick game or against three computer players for a full four-player match, with no download and no sign-up.

How to play

You are the red player in the top-left corner. Tap the dice at the bottom of the screen to roll. You need a 6 to bring a token out of your yard onto the start square. After that, each roll moves one token of your choice forward along the track in a clockwise direction. When more than one token can move, they glow and you tap the one you want to move; if only one move is possible, the game plays it for you. Rolling a 6 gives you another turn, but three sixes in a row cancels your turn. When a token has circled the board it climbs your colored home column, and it needs the exact number to land in the center triangle.

Capturing and safe squares

If your token lands on a square where a single rival token stands, that token is captured and sent back to its yard, and you earn a bonus turn. Squares marked with a star and each color’s start square are safe: tokens there cannot be captured. Two tokens of the same color on one square form a block that cannot be captured either. Reaching home with a token also gives you an extra turn.

How to win

The first player to bring all four tokens into the center wins. In a four-player game the computer players are green, yellow and blue, and the game ends as soon as someone gets all four tokens home. Your total wins against the computer are saved as your best score in your browser.

Tips and strategy

Bring out a second token whenever you roll a six, rather than only moving the first one, because having several tokens on the board gives you choices on every roll. Use safe squares as resting points when a rival token is just behind you; a rival six squares or fewer behind your token is a real threat. Chase rival tokens that are a few squares ahead of you, since capturing one costs them their progress and gives you a free turn. Do not rush a single token to the home column while the others sit in the yard, because you will waste rolls you cannot use. Near the end, keep one token close to home with a small gap to the finish, so that more numbers on the dice are useful to you.

Playing on mobile and desktop

The board fits any screen, the tokens and dice are large enough to tap with a thumb, and the game works with the space bar on a computer. Every game runs inside your browser, so there is nothing to install. It is a good game for a short break and for sharing with friends: tell them to try to beat your number of wins.