How to play Ludo

Ludo is a beloved descendant of the ancient Indian game Pachisi — a four-player race that's a fixture of family game nights from Delhi to Berlin. You guide four tokens out of your yard, around the cross-shaped track and into the safety of home, all on the roll of a single die. It's pure, friendly tension: a lucky six frees a token, an unlucky landing sends one back to the start. Here you race three bots.

Goal

Be the first to bring all four of your tokens home — into the central goal. You play the red tokens; the bots play green, yellow and blue.

Rolling & moving

• On your turn you roll one die and move a token clockwise by that many squares. Tap a highlighted token to move it.
• A token only leaves your yard onto its start square when you roll a 6.
• Roll a 6 and you roll again — chain them to make a big turn.
• To finish, a token must travel the whole track and up your home column; you need the exact roll to reach the centre.

Capturing & safe squares

Land on a square holding a single enemy token and you send it all the way back to its yard — one of the great swings in the game. But the star ⭐ squares and the coloured start squares are safe: tokens there can't be captured, and several can share them. So time your runs to pounce on exposed tokens while keeping your own on safe ground, and don't leave a single token sitting in the open just short of home. Spreading your tokens out is safer; bunching them makes you a target. N starts a new game.