Overview
Race four tokens from your base, around the board, and into your home column. Roll a six to get started. Related games include Parcheesi, Sorry! and Mensch ärgere Dich nicht, each with its own rules.
No governing body publishes rules for this game. This page describes the most common form. House rules vary, so agree them before you start.
1. Setup
Two to four players, one colour each, four tokens per player.
The board is a cross-shaped track. All four tokens start in your base, off the track.
2. Getting out
You must roll a six to move a token out of your base onto your starting square.
Rolling a six also grants an extra roll — so you can come out and immediately move.
3. Movement
Move one token the number rolled, around the track in a fixed direction.
Rolling a six always gives another turn. Three sixes in a row forfeits the turn entirely in most rule sets, to stop runaway luck.
4. Capturing
Landing on a square occupied by a single opponent token sends it back to its base, and it must roll a six again to re-enter.
Safe squares — usually marked with a star, and always including each player's starting square — cannot be captured on.
Two of your own tokens on one square form a block that opponents cannot pass in many rule sets. This varies considerably; agree first.
5. Coming home
Having completed a full circuit, a token turns into its own home column — the coloured path leading to the centre.
You need an exact roll to enter the finishing square. Overshoot and you cannot move that token.
6. Winning
First player to get all four tokens home wins. Play often continues to decide second and third.
7. Regional differences
| Version | Distinguishing feature |
|---|---|
| Ludo (UK, India) | Roll 6 to start, capture sends home |
| Parcheesi (US) | Two dice, blockades, bonus moves for captures |
| Sorry! (US) | Cards instead of dice, explicit swap and back-up moves |
| Mensch ärgere Dich nicht (DE) | Three rolls allowed when all tokens are in base |
Commonly argued
- You need a six to leave base, and it grants another roll.
- Landing on a single opponent sends it home — no exceptions off safe squares.
- An exact roll is needed to finish.
- Blocks with two tokens are common but not universal. Agree beforehand.
- Three sixes forfeiting the turn is a widespread rule, not a universal one.
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