No two houses play it the same. So whose version is right?
Everyone learned ludo from someone. Rather than pick one version and call it canon, Ludoo makes the contested rules settings, and the default set is being decided with players, not guessed at. Every rule below has its own link, so you can settle an argument mid-game.
The rules you grew up with. Written down.
These hold at every Ludoo table, whatever you set before the match.
A piece leaves its base only on a six, and a six throws again. Nobody waits for ever: a few turns in a row with nothing on the board, and a six comes to you.
Two of your pieces on one square hold it and block the lane. Whether anyone may pass is set by the rules in force.
After one lap, a piece turns up its own home lane and must land exactly on the last square.
The die is physical. Throw it off the felt and the throw is gone. Nobody gets a quiet re-roll.
Dice faces, legal moves and results come from the server, not from your phone. Nobody can flick a better number.
Both tables exist. Both are right.
Some rules are house rules, so they are settings. You choose before the match, and the match locks them when it starts.
The sideways kick#
Kicking across a lane rather than along it. How far it reaches changes the game completely.
The one we have missed
If your table plays a version that is not here, that is exactly the kind of thing worth telling us. It can become a setting too.
What people say. Where Ludoo stands.
The questions that stop a game. Each has an answer before the match, so nobody argues during it.
Can I add my six to the four to reach that piece?
Yes, and only to take. A six may be added to the other numbers in your hand as one movement, and that movement is legal only if it lands on an opponent. It buys reach, not passage: the chain still walks every square, so a wall in the way stops it however well the numbers add up.
Nobody passes a wall. Or can you jump it?
Two of your pieces on one square hold it. Whether anyone may pass a wall, and what happens when two meet, is set by the rules in force. It is one of the questions the rules workshops are settling.
That piece kicked across its own home stretch and ended up nearly home. Should it not go round again?
It is right. A sideways kick lands you on the square you took, and where that square sits on your route is how far you have left. Kick across your own home stretch from the start side and you land on the far side, a few squares from home, so home is a short walk forward, on to the end of the arm and in. Where a piece stands decides its distance home, not how it got there.
Some things are not up for debate. Fairness is one.
These are not settings. They hold for every seat, human or character.
- Every seat draws the same die
- No character is luckier than you. Weighted dice were built and then deliberately removed: an opponent that is hard because it plays well cannot also be hard because of the dice.
- A match locks its rules
- The preset is fixed when the match starts, so nothing changes under you mid-game.
- Your seat waits for you
- A dropped connection is not a forfeit, and neither is a server restart.
- A win is a win
- Two-player, teams and every variant pool into one ranked table for Ludoo. The variant is recorded on the match, not on the ladder.
Not by developer opinion. By real tables.
Every disputed rule goes through the same four steps before it becomes a default.
It gets written down
Each disputed rule becomes an entry with the variations people actually play, not one sentence somebody remembers.
It becomes a setting
The engine can play it either way, so a table can try both in one evening instead of arguing from memory.
Players decide
The rules workshops put real tables in front of both versions. The ruling follows what plays better, with the reasoning recorded.
It ships as a preset
A named, versioned set of rules. A match locks its preset when it starts.
Settle it before you sit down.
The questions people ask most about ludo rules in Ludoo.
What are the Ghana ludo rules?
Six to come out, and a six throws again. Landing on an opponent sends their piece home. Two pieces together make a wall that blocks the lane. In Ludoo the die is physical, so a throw that leaves the table is lost. The contested house rules, like three sixes and the sideways kick, are settings you choose before the match.
Do you need a six to start in ludo?
Yes. In Ghana-rules ludo a piece leaves home only on a six, and a six earns another throw. In Ludoo nobody waits for ever: after a few turns in a row with nothing on the board, a six comes to you, for every player and character alike.
What happens on three sixes in a row?
It depends on the table. Some lose the whole turn on a third six and some keep throwing. In Ludoo it is a setting chosen before the match.
Can the rules change during a match?
No. A match locks its set of rules when it starts, so nothing changes under you mid-game.
Do the characters get better dice?
No. Every seat draws the same die and the server decides every face. Weighted dice were built and then deliberately removed, so a character that is hard to beat is hard because it plays well. The one six that is not drawn is the catch-up six, and that rule is the same for every seat.
What happens if my connection drops?
Your seat waits for you. A dropped connection is not a forfeit, and neither is a server restart.
Are the default rules final?
Not yet. The default set is being decided in rules workshops with real players, and no default in the current build should be read as a ruling.
Your table, your rules
Play your version. Tell us where it differs.
Join the beta on iPhone or Android and bring your house rules with you.