Chapter 02 · How to play
How to play real-money ludo: the rules, the dice, the first move.
Real-money ludo on Indian apps uses the same board you played as a child, with three new rules: a six grants another turn, captures send your token home, and three sixes in a row forfeit the turn.
Updated 12 August 2026 · Editorial desk, Ludotoday
01 · Lede
What the rule card says
02 · Reading the chapter
Why the six changes everything
The six is the engine
Without a six you cannot leave the yard. Every token waits for a six before it can move. The first player to roll a six gets the first move of the match.
Plan your opening turn around the six. The fastest tokens leave the yard first; the slow ones stay home until the safer squares are open.
The capture resets progress
A captured token goes back to the start yard and must roll a six again to re-enter. Captures are the largest single swing in ludo.
If you are within one square of an opponent, the risk-reward flips. Move your token forward, but only if a capture is the likely outcome.
03 · Sourcing
Where this comes from
The rule card wording was drawn from the public rule cards on three Indian apps as of August 2026, plus the long-form rules published by the National Ludo Federation. The six-bonus mechanic and capture rule are standard; the three-sixes forfeit is the most common variant. Read the card before you stake.
04 · Next read
Keep going
If you or someone close to you needs support, the helpline on the responsible-play desk is free in India and operates 24x7.
Sourcing
Figures and rules on this page come from arithmetic on a fair six-faced die, public platform rule cards, and MeitY / PROG Act 2025 notifications. Where house rules differ, the platform's published rule card supersedes this page.