Ludo is an ancient Indian board game that has been played for centuries. The board game, also known as Pachisi, is believed to have originated in India during the 6th century AD. If historians are to be believed, the game was popular with Mughal emperors.
History of Ludo
The original game was played with cowrie shells until in the late 19th century, when the British modified the game into what it is now. For centuries now, Ludo cash is one of the most popular games around the world, played to kill time. It has also been adapted for mobile phones and computers. The mobile version of the game became largely popular during the Covid19 pandemic, when lockdowns were imposed in various parts of the world.
For starters, the board game can be played by 2 to 4 players. Ludo involves moving pieces around a square board using a dice. The objective of the game is to move all of your pieces from their starting position, also called home, to the center of the board, also called the winning point, before your opponents do the same. The centre of the board is a square with four triangles, each belonging to one of the four players. The first player to get all the four pieces to the centre of the board wins the game.
Following are the basic rules and regulations of Ludo for beginners
The colours
The board game comes with four colour options – green, blue, yellow and red. Each player chooses a colour and takes four pieces of that colour. The pieces are placed at the starting position – there is a starting position at all four corners of the board, which has to correspond with the colour you have chosen. If you have picked blue pieces, you will get the blue starting position.
A common dice
In order to move your pieces around the board, you need to use a dice which will be common to all the four players. You can move forward on the board according to the number that shows up on the dice. If it is a five, you move five boxes forward.
The six
There are three main ludo rules when it comes to number six on the dice. To get your piece outside of its starting point, you need to get a six on your dice. Another important rule pertaining to the six is an extra turn. If a player rolls a 6, they get an extra turn. The third important rule to mention is that if you roll three consecutive sixes on their dice, your turn is forfeited and you cannot move your pieces until the next turn. Similarly, if you cannot move any of your pieces on your turn – i.e. you are unable to roll the number of digits you need to move your piece on the board, your turn is again forfeited.
The checkmate
In order to be the first player to get all the pieces to the centre of the board, you need to escape checkmates. In simpler terms, if a player lands on a space where another player’s piece is already parked, the latter’s piece is sent back to its base. Also, you get an extra turn after capturing the opponent’s piece.
The winning position
As aforementioned, the first player to get all the four pieces to the centre of the board wins the game. To move a piece into the center of the board, you need to roll the exact number of spaces needed to reach the center. At the end of the game, if you are just two blocks away from the centre, you need to wait till you roll a two on your dice.
Play Ludo online on the WinZO App
