Ask board game enthusiasts from India to name one popular indoor game and it won’t come as a surprise if they mention Ludo in chorus. While Ludo has been a household favorite among all age groups, now you can play it on the online platform and that too with real money. It is the local online casino sites and the optimized Ludo apps that have brought back the rage for this game online.
Did you know that Ludo is also known as Pachisi in many parts of the country? Played on a board that displays four houses in blue, yellow, red and green, this game can be played by four players in all. Each house player has four pawns of color and needs to move a certain number of spaces on the board depending on the number he/she gets upon tossing the dice during his/her turn.
The player who successfully moves all his four pawns from the start to the finishing point is declared the winner in the game. Well, that’s for the basics of the game. Check out more on how to play Ludo online.
Playing Online Ludo
Not any different from the original board game, you can play online ludo just the same way in real-time on your choicest device. Playable on any compatible smartphone, tab, desktop or laptop, online ludo enables you to bet in Rupees and enjoy fearless gaming with its reliable payment methods.
How to register for online ludo?
If you are looking for an online platform to play ludo, first choose a trustworthy site that offers the game. You can pick a Ludo online casino and sign up. Subsequently, make a deposit and pick a ludo table of your choice to play your game.
At most top-rated sites that offer ludo in their gaming lobby, you’ll be able to “buy in”. This is the amount payable for a table that a player has to choose before entering the game. The amount you pay adds to the prize pool collected from every player as the buy-in amount. The winner is entitled to taking the collected sum as the prize pot.
Real-Money Online Ludo
Before playing the game, it is important to get familiarize oneself with the layout of the game. With four coloured starting pockets at the corners, the square ludo board features a cross-shaped play area divided into little squares at the centre. This white area is the play spacealong which the player has to move his/her pawn. The inner coloured stripe running like a cross across the centre of the board is the finish line. All the players attempt to enter their respective coloured land to win a game of ludo.
Additional features
Takin to the real ludo game, the online game board has eight safe zones. Any player standing on any of these zones cannot be knocked over by another player. This is a free zone and there’s no limit on how many pieces can stand together on the same safe zone. Depending on the online ludo variation your casino offers, one can use the four starting squares also as safe zones.
Rules of playing real money online ludo
Even if it for the first time, playing ludo online with cash is as easy and smooth. Just as you do in your offline game, all you have to do is roll the dice and move your pawns on the board. Although the game is designed to be played by a maximum of 4 players, even two or three players can play it together.
To start with, each participating player throws the dice and the one with the highest number starts the game. The game rolls clockwise. At the beginning of the game, each player will have four pawns of a chosen colour but can only release a pawn if he/she rolls a six on the dice. Rolling a six allows a player to move his/her pawn forward on the entering square adjacent to his/her respective corner. On rolling a six, you get another chance to toss the dice and repeat the action of moving your selected pawn ahead. However, if you neither have a movable piece on the board nor roll a six, you lose a turn and the next player gets to play.
Moving the pawns
In an online game of ludo, all you need is to move your pawns clockwise around the board with every turn. A pawn that has travelled around the board and reached the finishing line can enter it and move towards the final destination. When you have more than one of your pawns on the board, you can choose to move anyone you like. You are free to build your strategy to ensure that all your pawns safely reach the destination at the earliest. So, you can move your pawns simultaneously, one at a time on every legit turn. However, note that you can only move any one of the pawns at a time and cannot split the count of your dice between two pawns. Moreover, you can’t ‘pass’ your turn if moves are plausible.
The role of six on your online ludo dice
If you roll a six, you can release a pawn from your yard. Moreover, it also allows you to release a piece from your yard and simultaneously enjoy a bonus roll. Rolling a six allows you to roll the dice once again and move ahead. With another six, you’ll have to end the round.
Landing on an occupied square
You may come across varying situations while playing online ludo. There could be more than one situation where two pawns arrive at the same square at a time. Here are two situations when this can happen.
When you land on a square occupied by an opponent and when you land on your pawn. In the former situation, your opponent has to take his/her pawn back to the yard while in the latter case it will not make any difference. However, there are variations in online ludo games where landing on your pawn can merge them to make it a block-paw that another player cannot cross.
Online ludo variation with block-pawn
Block-pawns provide a big advantage to a player and not every game of ludo may follow it. If you happen to play a ludo variant that allows you to form a block-pawn, you may use it to block your opponents from moving past your square. While your block-pawn can knock-over singe pawns in their path, you cannot use it vice-versa to your advantage. However, the catch here is that even your merged pawns can move only at half-speed. The movement is possible only when the player rolls an even number on his/her dice. You can always de-merge your block-pawns any time to revert to individual pawns.
How to conclude a game of online ludo?
Once you enter the coloured home zone after covering the full lap on the ludo board, you have to wait till you get the exact number on your dice that can lead you to the final destination. For instance, if your pawn is four steps away from the goal and you’ve rolled a five, you won’t be able to move your pawn. Instead, wait until your next turn. Rolling a number lesser than the required number can steadily move you ahead towards the finishing line. If you can successfully goal your pawn and still have remaining pawns to play, you will get an extra chance to roll the dice.
Basic Ludo rules for quick reference
– You have to roll a 6 on your dice to move a piece out of your base. Some Indian online ludo variations allow moving your pawn out of the house even upon rolling a 1 on the dice.
– Game pawns can be moved clockwise around the ludo board.
– You can move your pawn to enter the goal on a dice roll number that matches the remaining number of required steps.
Real money Ludo Apps
Most casinos open to Indian players feature online ludo playable with real money. Not just at gambling sites, you can use a preferred portable device to install the dedicated ludo apps and enjoy uninterrupted play for hours. There is a score of ludo apps such as Ludo Fantasy, IndiaLudo, Ludo Money among many others that can be downloaded on your mobile or tab. These apps enable you to stake real money and play relentlessly.
Payment methods: Online Ludo
To play ludo with real money, you will need to choose a reliable online payment method. Most top-notch casino sites and apps provide a plethora of safe and secure payment gateways. Indian players can select secure methods to play and win real money on their favourite game of ludo.
Among some of the popular online payment methods feature Paytm and Google Pay. A UPI payment gateway, this method allows players to transfer their money safely into their casino accounts to access ludo variants. Another UPI payment mode accessible by Android as well as iOS users is Google Pay. Both these methods can be used for depositing and withdrawing money at ludo casinos and ludo apps.
