Ludo Rules, Explained Simply
Ludo is a race. Four players (red, green, yellow, blue), four tokens each. Get all four of your tokens around the board and home before anyone else. Here's every rule that matters:
🎲 Starting the game
- All tokens begin in your coloured base (the big square in your corner).
- You must roll a 6 to move a token out of base onto your starting square.
- Rolling a 6 also gives you another turn.
🚶 Moving tokens
- On your turn, roll the dice and move one token forward by that many squares, clockwise around the board.
- You may split movement however you like across turns — there's no rule saying one token must finish first.
- Each colour travels its own path of 51 squares before turning into its home column.
⚔️ Captures
- Land exactly on a square occupied by an opponent's token, and that token is captured — sent all the way back to base.
- Capturing earns you another turn. Sweet revenge, twice over.
- A stack of two or more opponent tokens on one square is safe from capture.
⭐ Safe squares
- Squares marked with a ★ star (including every player's starting square) are safe — tokens there can never be captured.
- There are 8 safe squares on the board. Use them as pit stops when opponents are close behind.
🎲🎲🎲 The three-sixes rule
Roll three 6s in a row and your turn is cancelled — no move at all. The dice giveth, and the dice taketh away.
🏠 Reaching home
- After the full loop, tokens turn into their coloured home column.
- You need the exact dice roll to move a token into the home triangle. Rolled a 4 but need 2? That token stays put.
- Bringing a token home earns you another turn.
🏆 Winning
The first player to bring all four tokens home wins. The game can continue to decide second and third place, or end there — on WinnerLudo, the game finishes once the rankings are decided.
House rules we follow
Different families play slightly different Ludo. On WinnerLudo we use the classic set above: 6 to start, captures everywhere except star squares, exact roll to finish, extra turns on 6s, captures and home entries. Try them out in a real game →