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One game of Ludo is decided by the die. A hundred games are decided by which token you move. Most turns offer two to four legal moves, and the player who ranks them well finishes ahead over time. This playbook gives you the numbers and an order for ranking.
Ludo on Drem
Two Ludo titles sat in Drem’s Casino tab when we checked on 13 October 2026. One is called Ludo and carried a HOT tag; the other, Ludo Win, was tagged NEW. The entry, the number of players, the turn timer and the way a winner is decided belong to each table and are shown in the game’s own rules panel. Read it before the first roll, because the format changes the strategy: a race to bring four tokens home plays differently from a timed game won on points.
The numbers behind the die
| Situation | Chance |
|---|---|
| A six on any one roll | 1 in 6 (16.7%) |
| No six in three rolls | 57.9% |
| No six in six rolls | 33.5% |
| An opponent’s token 1 to 6 squares behind yours lands on you with its next roll | 16.7% |
| The same token 7 to 12 squares behind (it needs a six, then the exact number) | about 2.8% |
| Two tokens of one opponent at different distances, both within six squares behind you | 33.3% |
The figures assume one die and the usual bonus roll for a six. They explain the most useful habit in the game: count the squares behind you. Six or fewer is danger. Seven or more is, for one turn, nearly safe.
Ranking your moves
When more than one move is legal, test them in this order and take the first that applies.
- Capture. Sending a token back to the yard costs the opponent every square it has travelled, plus the wait for another six. Take it unless the capturing token would stop directly in front of two enemies.
- Rescue. If one of your tokens has an enemy within six squares behind it, move it to a safe square or out of range.
- Reach a safe square. Starred squares and, in most versions, starting squares protect a token completely.
- Bring a token out when you roll a six and have fewer than two on the track.
- Advance the token that ends safest, counting the squares behind its landing spot.
A worked turn
You roll a 4 and have three options. Token A has travelled 12 squares and sits three squares ahead of a red token. Token B could land on a starred square but is under no threat. Token C could capture a blue token that has travelled 30 squares.
- Rescue A: moving it four squares puts red seven behind. The risk to A falls from 16.7% to about 2.8%.
- Park B: tidy, but it changes nothing this turn.
- Capture with C: blue loses 30 squares for certain and has to wait for a six.
Leaving A where it is risks 12 squares one time in six, an average cost of two squares. The capture takes 30 squares off an opponent with certainty. Capture, and rescue A next turn if it is still there. Putting rough numbers on each option like this is the whole method.
Opening, middle and endgame
- Opening: use early sixes to bring out a second token before running the first. Two tokens give you a choice every turn; one gives you none. The Huddle covers this in the first ten turns of a Ludo game.
- Middle: keep tokens in loose pairs, within a roll of a safe square, and do not rest just beyond an opponent’s starting square.
- Endgame: home needs an exact roll. A token waiting for one particular number waits six turns on average, so keep a second token in play to use the rolls the first cannot.
When the table is timed or scored on points
Many online tables end on a clock or a move limit and award the win on points, typically for squares travelled, captures and tokens brought home. The rules panel says exactly how. In those formats steady progress matters more than finishing, a capture can be worth more than the squares it gains, and in the last minute you protect the token carrying the most progress instead of gambling with it.
Play it as a game, budget it as a bet
Each table has an entry, and a better player still loses plenty of single games to the die. Settle the number of games in advance and stop when you reach it. The bankroll page shows how to size an entry against a session budget, and the responsible gaming page covers the limits that sit above any strategy.
