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Ludo (board game)
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Years active
Since c. 1896
Players
2–4
Playing time
< 120 min
Genre(s)
Board game
Race game
Age range
4 and up
Random chance
Medium (dice rolling)
Ludo/ˈluːdoʊ/, /ˈljuː-/ (from Latin ludo, "I play") is a board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens from start to finish according to die rolls. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo is derived from the Indian game Pachisi, but simpler. The game and its variants are popular in many countries and under various names.
Pachisi originated in India by the 6th century. The earliest evidence of this game in India is the depiction of boards on the caves of Ajanta. This game was played by the Mughal emperors of India; a notable example is Akbar. The Royal Navy took Ludo and converted it into the much loved messdeck game of Uckers the rules of which can be found on any RN website.
In England, Pachisi was modified using six-sided dice and patented as Ludo in 1896, patent number 14636.
Nomenclature
In North America, the game is sold under the brand name Parcheesi. Variations of the game are sold under the brand names Sorry!, Aggravation, and Trouble.
In Germany, this game is called "Mensch ärgere dich nicht" which means "Man, don't get irritated", and has equivalent names in many other languages (such as Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, and Slovene). For example, the Macedonian name is "Не лути се човеку", meaning "Don't get angry, man". In Iran, the game is called "منچ" [Mench] which is probably an adaptation of the German name.
In Polish it is commonly referred to as Chińczyk ("The Chine[s]e"), though an equivalent form to the German name also exists.
In Estonia, it is called "Reis ümber maailma" (Trip around the world).
In Greece, the game is called "Γκρινιάρης" [Griniaris] ("Grumbler") referring to typical player behaviour.
In Malaysia and Singapore, it is called "飞机棋".
In Sweden it is known as "Fia", a name derived from the Latin word fiat which means "so be it!" Common variations on the name are "Fia-spel" (Fia the game) and "Fia med knuff" (Fia with push). In Denmark and Norway though, the game is known as Ludo.
In Vietnam, it is called "Cờ cá ngựa".
In Spain it is called "Parchís" and in Catalonia "Parxís".
In the Netherlands it is called "Mens erger je niet!" which roughly translates to "Do not get annoyed!"
Ludo board
Special areas of the Ludo board are typically coloured bright yellow, green, red, and blue. Each player is assigned a colour and has four tokens of matching colour. The board is normally square with a cross-shaped game track, with each arm of the cross consisting of three columns of squares—usually six squares per column. The middle columns usually have five squares coloured; these represent a player's home column. A sixth coloured square not on the home column is a player's starting square. At the centre of the board is a large finishing square, often composed of coloured triangles atop the players' home columns (thus depicting "arrows" pointing to the finish).
Overview
Two, three, or four may play. At the beginning of the game, each player's four tokens are out of play and staged in one of the large corner areas of the board in the player's colour (the player's yard ). When able to, the players will enter their tokens one per time on their respective starting squares, and proceed to race them clockwise around the board along the game track (the path of squares not part of any player's home column). When reaching the square below his home column, a player continues by racing tokens up the column to the finishing square. The rolls of a cube die control the swiftness of the tokens, and entry to the finishing square requires a precise roll from the player. The first to bring all their tokens to the finish wins the game. The others often continue play to determine second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers.
Gameplay
Each player rolls the die, the highest roller begins the game. Players alternate turns in a clockwise direction.
To enter a token into play from its yard to its starting square, a player must roll a 6. If the player has no tokens yet in play and rolls other than a 6, the turn passes to the next player. Once a player has one or more tokens in play, he selects a token and moves it forwards along the track the number of squares indicated by the die. Players must always move a token according to the die value rolled; if no move is possible, the turn passes to the next player.
When a 6 is rolled, the player may choose to advance a token already in play, or, may enter another staged token to its starting square. Rolling a 6 earns the player an additional or "bonus" roll in that turn. If the bonus roll results in a 6 again, the player earns an additional bonus roll. If the third roll is also a 6, the player may not move and the turn immediately passes to the next player.
Players may not end their move on a square they already occupy. If the advance of a token ends on a square occupied by an opponent's token, the opponent token is returned to its owner's yard. The returned token may only be reentered into play when the owner rolls a 6. (Unlike Pachisi, there are no "safe" squares on the game track which protect a player's tokens from being returned. A player's home column squares are always safe, however, since no opponent may enter them.)
Variations
Ludo played in the Indian continent features a safe square in each quadrant, normally the fourth square from the top in the rightmost column. These squares are usually marked with a star. In India Ludo is often played with two dice, and rolling 1 on a die also allows a token to enter active play. Thus if a player rolls a 1 and a 6, they may get a token out and move it six steps.
To get a game started faster, some house rules allow a player with no pieces on the board to bring their first piece into play on any roll, on a 1 or a 6, or allow multiple tries to roll a 6 (with three rolls being the most popular).
If a piece lands on the same space as another piece of the same colour, the moved piece must take the preceding space.
If a player's piece lands on another of their own pieces, they are doubled and form a block which cannot be passed by any opponent's pieces. Some variations permit such blocks to be passed by rolling a 6 or 1.
Doubled pieces may move half the number if an even number is thrown (e.g. move two spaces if a 4 is thrown).
A doubled piece may capture another doubled piece (like in Coppit).
A board may have only four spaces in each home column. All four of a player's pieces must finish in these spaces for the player to have finished the game. (See Mensch ärgere dich nicht.)
To speed the game up, extra turns or bonus moves can be awarded for capturing a piece or getting a piece home; these may grant passage past a block.
In Denmark and some other countries the board has eight spaces marked with a globe and eight with a star. The globes are safe spaces where a piece cannot be captured. The exception is that a player who has not yet entered all pieces, can always enter a piece on a roll of 6. If the entry space is occupied by another player's piece, that piece is captured. Otherwise the entry spaces work like the other globe spaces. A piece which would have landed on a star instead moves to the next star.
In Vietnam, it is called "Cờ cá ngựa", where the game is modeled after a horse race with the tokens modeled as horse heads. In this variation, a 1 is given equal status to a 6 (meaning that the player can enter a token into play and can roll again). Furthermore, once a player's token reaches their home column, it can only go up each square with an exact roll. This means that a person outside the column must roll a 1 to enter the first square, a 2 afterwards to enter the second, and so forth.
In Pakistan, a variation that uses two dice allows backwards movement. The dice are rolled and the die values can be used independently or in combination to move two pieces or a single piece forwards or backwards or both. For example, if the roll gives 1 and 4, the player can move a single piece 4 steps forwards and then 1 step backwards, or 1 step forwards and 4 steps backwards, or 1 then 4 steps forwards or backwards. Or the player can move a piece 1 step forwards or backwards, and another piece 4 steps forwards or backwards.
In some parts of Africa the following rules are reportedly played:
A doubled block also blocks trailing pieces of the player who created the block, or blocks them unless they roll the exact number to land on the block; additionally, the doubled block cannot move forwards until the block that landed upon it moves off again. This reduces the tactical advantage of a block and makes the game more interesting.
If the two players sitting opposite are partners, the players can exchange numbers.
There are four safety squares on the board, like castle squares in Pachisi, as well as the safe home squares, where a piece may able to move forwards or backwards and start their turn before previous player finishes.
A piece landing on a square with an opponent's piece not only sends the opponent piece back to the starting area but also sends the landing piece to its home square.
A player cannot move their first piece into the home column unless they have captured at least one piece of any of the opponents.
If a player captures the piece of another player, they are awarded a bonus roll. If in the bonus roll, another player's piece is captured, another bonus roll is awarded and so on.
In popular culture
In the 1951 novel The Hive by Camilo José Cela, the character Ventura asks to borrow the Ludo from Doña Celia, the proprietress of a house of assignations.
In 1967 Ivor Cutler recorded an album titled Ludo with Beatles producer George Martin.
In the "Requiem" episode of The Avengers, John Steed claims that his cousin Demon Desmond is the world Ludo champion.
In the music video for the song "The Name of the Game" by the Swedish pop group ABBA, the four members of the group are shown playing Fia-spel.
In the 2016 TV series Chewing Gum the game is played by sisters Tracy and Cynthia. The main character Tracy, also plays the game with her cousin Boy Tracy.
