Ludo

History

Ludo uses a cubic die with a dice cup and was marketed as "Ludo" in England in 1896 by Alfred Coller. Coller eventually patented the game and sold it as "Royal Ludo". The board game Uckers, popular in the Royal Navy, is based on Ludo.

Ludo board

Special areas of the Ludo board are typically coloured bright yellow, green, red, and blue. Each player is assigned a colour and has four tokens in their colour. The board is normally square with a cross-shaped playspace, with each arm of the cross having three columns of squares, usually six per column. The middle columns usually have five squares coloured; these represent a player's home column. A sixth coloured square not on the home column is a player's starting square. At the centre of the board is a large finishing square, often composed of coloured triangles atop the players' home columns (thus depicting "arrows" pointing to the finish).

Rules

Overview

Two, three, or four can play, without partnerships. At the beginning of the game, each player's four tokens are out of play and staged in the player's yard (one of the large corner areas of the board in the player's colour). When able to, the players enter their tokens one per turn on their respective starting squares and proceed to race them clockwise around the board along the game track (the path of squares not part of any player's home column). When reaching the square below their home column, a player continues by moving tokens up the column to the finishing square.

The moves are determined by the roll of a single die, and a precise roll is required to land on the finish square. The first player to bring all their tokens to the finish wins the game. The others often continue to play to determine second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers.

Gameplay

Each player rolls a die; the highest roller begins the game. Players alternate turns in a clockwise direction. To enter a token into play from its yard to its starting square, a player must roll a six. Players can draw a token from home every time they get a six unless home is empty or move a piece six times. The start box has two own tokens (is doubled). If the player has no tokens yet in play and rolls other than a six, the turn passes to the next player.

Players must always move a token according to the die value rolled. Once players have one or more tokens in play, they select a token and move it forwards along the track the number of squares indicated by the die. If a token advances onto a space occupied by opponent's token then the opposing token is returned to its respective home point. (This requires the opponent to roll another six to return it to the starting space on the board.) If a token advances onto a space occupied by a token of the same colour, it is stacked on top to form a "block". If an opposing token lands on the same space as the block, the advancing token is returned to its respective home point.

If the player cannot draw a token from home, rolling a six earns the player an additional or "bonus" roll in that turn. If the bonus roll results in a six again, the player earns again an additional bonus roll. If the third roll is also a six, the player may not move and the turn immediately passes to the next player.

A player's home column squares are always "safe", since no opponent may enter them. In the home column, a player must roll the exact number needed to get each token onto the home triangle.

Variants

List of international variants

Ludo exists under different names and brands, and in various game derivations:

Pachisi, Indian

Uckers, British

Fia, Swedish

Eile mit Weile (Haste makes Pace), Swiss

Cờ cá ngựa, Vietnamese

Parchís, Spanish

Parqués, Colombian

Vuelta obligada (mandatory restart)

Cielo robado (stolen heaven)

De piedra en piedra (from stone to stone)

Con Policía (With Policeman)

Mensch ärgere Dich nicht (Man, Don't Get Angry), is a German game from 1914 and has equivalent names in Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Turkish.

"Mens erger je niet" (Dutch)

"Γκρινιάρης" (Gree-nyá-rees: Complainer) (Greek)

"Non t'arrabbiare" (Italian)

"Človek, ne jezi se" (Slovenian)

"Člověče, nezlob se" (Czech)

"Človeče, nehnevaj sa" (Slovak)

"Čovječe, ne ljuti se" (Croatian)

"Човече не љути се" (Serbian)

Differences

Ludo played in the Indian subcontinent features a safe square in each quadrant, normally the fourth square from the top in the rightmost column. These squares are usually marked with a star. In India Ludo is often played with two dice, and rolling one on a die also allows a token to enter active play. Thus if a player rolls a one and a six, they may get a token out and move it six steps.

In Pakistan, a variation that uses two dice allows backwards movement. The dice are rolled and the die values can be used independently or in combination to move two pieces or a single piece forwards or backwards or both. (E.g., if the roll gives one and four, the player can move a single piece 4 steps forwards and then 1 step backwards, or 1 step forwards and 4 steps backwards, or 1 then 4 steps forwards or backwards. Or the player can move a piece 1 step forwards or backwards, and another piece 4 steps forwards or backwards.)

To get a game started faster, some house rules allow a player with no pieces on the board to bring their first piece into play on any roll, on a one or a six, or allow multiple tries to roll a six (with three rolls being the most popular).

If a piece lands on the same space as another piece of the same colour, the moved piece must take the preceding space.

Some variations permit doubled blocks to be passed by rolling a six or a one.

A block of two or more pieces cannot be taken by an opponent's single piece.

Doubled pieces may move half the number if an even number is thrown (e.g. move two spaces if a four is thrown).

A doubled piece may capture another doubled piece (like in Coppit). Three pieces together are weak and can be cut by a single piece.

A board may have only four spaces in each home column. All four of a player's pieces must finish in these spaces for the player to have finished the game. (See Mensch ärgere dich nicht.)