Ludo Strategy: 10 Tips to Win More Games

2026-10-30

Ludo strategy starts with an honest admission: the die decides how far you move, but you decide which piece moves, and over a whole match that choice is where skill lies. These ten tips follow the rules as they play on Playgridia, on the Ludo board and on the Parchís board (Spain's version, a free board option of the same game), and each says which board it covers. House rules vary; the basic Ludo rules and the Parchís rules set out the ones used here.

Stay out of reach: safe squares, pairs and distance

1. Learn where the safe squares are (both boards)

Nothing can be captured on a safe square. The Ludo board has 8: the four start squares and the four stars, each star 8 squares past a start square. The Parchís board has 12, called seguros and marked with a round mark, including each colour's exit square and the last square before a piece turns into its home lane. Home lanes belong to their owner alone on both boards. When a rival is within six squares behind you, ask first whether a safe square is one roll away.

2. Move in pairs (Ludo board)

Two of your pieces on one track square form a pair. A rival cannot capture a pair or land on its square, though it may pass over it; if the optional Walls setting is on, a pair also blocks passing. Your own pair never stops you. Moving either piece breaks it, so pair up where rivals are close behind.

3. Count the squares behind you before every move (both boards)

A rival can only hit you with a number it can roll, so distance is probability. Check it for the square you stand on and the square you are about to land on. The strongest bot does the same, counting how many different die numbers would hit a square.

The figures assume a fair die, a clear road and a rival that uses the roll on that piece. On the Parchís board a rival with an empty yard moves 7 on a six, so it hits at 1 to 5 squares and at 7, not at 6.

Getting out and getting round: entries and sixes

4. Get a second piece out early (Ludo board)

On the Ludo board you need a 6 to leave the yard, but it is not forced: with a 6 you may bring a piece out or move one already out. The new piece lands on your start square, which is safe, and nothing is captured on entry even if rivals stand there. You cannot pass when a legal move exists, so a lone piece must take every roll wherever it leads; with two out, you choose which one takes the risk.

5. Plan around the forced 5 (Parchís board)

On the Parchís board you enter with a 5, and it is compulsory: with a piece in your yard and an exit square that lets it in, bringing it out is your only legal move on a 5. So until the yard is empty, a 5 cannot be spent on a capture or an escape. The exception is an exit square already holding two of your own pieces: you cannot enter, and the 5 is played normally. A six never brings a piece out.

6. Respect the third six (both boards)

A six rolls again on both boards, even with no legal move. A third six in a row is void: on the Ludo board your turn ends, while on the Parchís board the last piece you moved (a bonus move counts) also returns to the yard, unless it is already in its home lane. After a second six on Parchís, choose that piece carefully: a third six, one roll in six, sends it back. A Parchís six also counts 7 once your yard is empty, so count distances with 7.

Captures, counts and blockades

7. Know what a capture pays, and be able to cash it (both boards)

A captured piece returns to its yard and needs a 6 (Ludo board) or a 5 (Parchís board) to start again, so the farther it had travelled, the more you take. A landing captures only one piece, the rival that arrived last. On the Ludo board a capture, like a piece reaching home, earns one extra roll. On the Parchís board a capture earns a count of 20 and a piece home a count of 10: a separate move with any piece that can move exactly that many squares. If none can, the count is lost, so before you hunt, check that you have a piece for 20 and another for 10.

8. Build a blockade where rivals must pass (Parchís board)

On the Parchís board a square holds at most two pieces, and two pieces of one colour form a blockade: nobody can land on it or pass it, even on a safe square. That includes its owner (and the owner's partner in 2v2), so build it in front of rival pieces, not your own. It is temporary too: when you roll a 6 and a piece of one of your blockades can move, you must move one of those pieces. A rolled 6 forces it; a count does not.

9. Wait out a rival blockade (Parchís board)

You cannot land on a blockade or on any square already holding two pieces, and you cannot pass a blockade, so spend your rolls on other pieces. If one must wait right behind it, a safe square is the place. A blockade lasts only until its owner rolls a 6 that one of its pieces can use. On the Ludo board a pair blocks passing only with Walls on, and nothing forces its owner to open it on a 6.

Finishing and the other modes

10. Plan the finish and the mode (both boards)

A piece finishes only by landing exactly on home, 56 steps from its start square on the Ludo board and 71 on the Parchís board; a move that would overshoot is not legal. If that piece is your last, every roll that does not fit passes the turn (a six still rolls again), so keep a second piece with useful moves while it waits. Quick mode starts with one piece on its start square and ends at two pieces home, so there is less time to wait. In 2v2 you can never capture your partner, and once your seat has finished you roll and move your partner's pieces; see the 2v2 guide.

What to do with this

Three habits cover most of it: count the distance behind you before every move, keep more than one piece in play so you always have a real choice, and know your board's bonuses so none goes to waste. To practise, open a room with bots on the Ludo page and try both boards.

Frequently Asked Questions