How to win at Ludo: strategy for two players

Any one game can go either way, because one unlucky roll can send your best pawn back to the yard. Over many games, the choices win. Easy picks a good move 1 turn in 5 and Hard every turn, and Hard won 888 of 1,000 games against it.

Going first doesn't matter. In 2,000 games of Hard against Hard, the player who rolled first won 996 and the second 1,004. Both players get the same dice odds, so all of the difference between a strong and a weak player is in which pawn they move.

Most turns you have a choice, and this order is the one our Hard computer uses every turn. Go down it and take the first one that fits your roll.

• A capture. It costs your rival every step that pawn made, they need a 6 to bring it back out, and you roll again.
• A pawn that reaches home. You roll again for that too.
• A pawn that steps from a plain square onto a safe one: a star, a start square or its own lane.
• On a 6, a new pawn out of the yard.
• A pawn that runs away from a rival 1 to 6 squares behind it.
• Otherwise, the pawn furthest along that doesn't stop just in front of a rival.

A pawn is in danger when a rival pawn is 1 to 6 squares behind it on a plain square. Each of those distances is hit by one number, so it's 1 chance in 6 next turn, and two rival pawns behind you at different distances make it 2 in 6.

Further back the danger drops fast. A pawn 7 to 12 squares behind needs a 6 and then the right number, which is 1 chance in 36. So when you have to leave a pawn somewhere open, leave it more than 6 squares in front of the nearest rival.

Two of your pawns on the same square don't protect each other here. A rival landing there sends both back. The only safe places are the eight safe squares (the four start squares and the four stars) and your own coloured lane.

Early, while you can. You need a 6 to bring a pawn out, and 6s are rarer than they feel: 1 turn in 6, and there's still a 16% chance of no 6 at all in 10 turns. With only one pawn on the track, every roll has to move that pawn, even when moving it walks it into danger.

With two or three pawns out, you get to choose, and choice is what wins Ludo. A new pawn also sits on your start square, which is safe, so it costs you nothing to have it there.

Bringing a pawn out comes after a capture, getting home and getting safe in the order above, though. If a 6 can take a rival pawn or put one of yours on a safe square, do that first, and bring the new pawn out with the next 6.

A pawn needs the exact number to get home, and once it's in its lane it can't be captured. So don't race your lead pawn up the lane if another pawn is in danger: the lane pawn is safe and can wait.

Keep more than one pawn moving near the end. If your only pawn left needs a 2 and you roll a 5, nothing moves and the turn passes. With two pawns on the track, the 5 still does something.

Three 6s in a row end your turn on the third. You can't stop that happening, but you can plan for it: after two 6s, make the second move the one you most need, in case the next roll is a third 6.

• Racing one pawn round alone while the other three sit in the yard.
• Stopping one square in front of a rival pawn when a star is in reach.
• Passing up a capture to move a pawn that's already safe.
• Leaving two pawns on one plain square, thinking it's a block.

Easy follows the order above 1 turn in 5 and otherwise moves any pawn, so it leaves pawns in danger and misses captures. Medium follows it 7 turns in 10. Hard follows it every turn, and it never sees the die before it's rolled. The full rules for two players are in our Ludo rules guide.

It’s free in your browser, with no sign-up. Play Ludo against the computer, with a friend on the same screen, or send a friend a link and play online. Or tap Quick match to play someone new.

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