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Chess players study openings because the first moves decide what kind of game follows. Ludo has an opening too. It lasts about ten turns, it is governed by a handful of probabilities, and most players waste it by racing one token around the board. Here is a plan for it.
The plan assumes the classic rule that a token needs a six to leave the yard. Some online tables start tokens on the track or drop that rule. The game’s rules panel will tell you; if so, begin at “Where to stand”.
What ten turns usually give you
| In your first ten rolls | Chance |
|---|---|
| No six at all | 16.2% |
| Exactly one six | 32.3% |
| Two or more sixes | 51.5% |
| Average number of sixes | 1.7 |
Bonus rolls for a six add a little to these. The practical reading: about half the time you get two sixes early, and what you do with the second is the first real decision of the game. About one game in six you get none, and the right response is patience, not a bigger entry next time.
The first six: get out
Bring a token out. The bonus roll that follows will move it, since it is your only token on the track, unless that roll is another six.
The second six: build, do not run
Now there is a choice: move the first token six squares, or bring out a second. Bring out the second, unless the six captures an opponent or lifts a threatened token to safety. The reason is simple arithmetic about choices.
- With one token on the track, every roll has one use. A bad number has to be played badly.
- With two, every roll has two uses, and you can pick the one that leaves you safer.
- A token in the yard does nothing, and the six that frees it arrives on only one roll in six.
Six squares of progress are worth less than a permanent second option.
Where to stand
On the standard board the track has 52 squares and the four starting squares sit 13 apart. Safe squares, usually starred, are spread around it. Three rules decide where a token should stop in the opening.
- Stop on a safe square when the roll allows it. A token there cannot be captured, whatever is behind it.
- Count six behind you. A token with an enemy one to six squares behind it is captured 16.7% of the time on that enemy’s next roll. With seven or more it is about 2.8%.
- Respect the opponents’ doorways. The six squares just past an opponent’s starting square are where tokens fresh from the yard land. If that opponent already has a token waiting on the starting square, you are a 16.7% target every turn you stay.
An opening, roll by roll
Ten turns as red, with the reasoning for each.
| Turn | Roll | Move and reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | 3, then 5 | No token out. Nothing to do |
| 3 | 6, then 4 | First token out, then four squares on with the bonus roll |
| 4 | 4 | Token one moves four and stops on the first starred square |
| 5 | 6, then 2 | Second token out, not six more for the first. The 2 goes to token two, which has nothing within six squares behind it |
| 6 | 5 | Token one moves five to the next starting square, which is safe in most versions |
| 7 | 3 | A blue token has arrived four squares behind token two. Token two moves three, making the gap seven |
| 8 | 3 | Token two takes the 3 and reaches the starred square |
| 9 | 2 | Both tokens are on safe squares. Move whichever is still out of every enemy’s range afterwards |
| 10 | 6, then 3 | Third token out. The 3 goes to the token with the clearest path ahead |
After ten turns red has three tokens on the board, has used safe squares at every chance and has not offered a single capture at one-in-six odds. No token is far advanced, and that is fine. The race is long, a full lap is about fifty squares, and the players who sprinted will spend the middle game being chased.
A target for turn ten
- Two tokens on the track, or three if the sixes came.
- At least one of them on a safe square.
- No token resting within six squares ahead of an enemy.
- No token stranded just past an opponent’s starting square.
When the opening changes
- Timed or points tables. With a clock running, every turn spent waiting costs more. Progress scores, so advance steadily, but the safety rules still hold: a captured token usually loses what it had earned. Check how points are counted in the rules panel.
- Two-player games. One opponent means fewer threats and a more open board. You can advance a little more freely, and captures matter even more because there is only one rival to set back.
- An early capture chance. Take it. It outranks everything in this plan.
What comes after the opening, the ranking of moves, a worked turn and the endgame, is on the Ludo strategy page. And since every table has an entry, read the bankroll page before you play for money.
