Pull up a chair, here's how.

Ludo

Getting started

• Everyone has four pieces waiting in their base.
• Roll a 6 to bring a piece out onto your start square.

Moving

• Move one piece forward, clockwise, by the number you roll.
• Each piece goes once round the board, then up your color’s lane to the center.
• Reaching the center takes an exact roll. A roll that would go past it can’t move that piece.
• Your own pieces can share a square. No square ever blocks the way.

Capturing

• Land on an opponent’s piece to send it back to their base, along with any others there.
• The star squares, including every start square, are safe: no one can be captured on them.

Rolling again

• Roll a 6, capture a piece, or get a piece home, and you roll again. One extra roll per roll, however many of those happen at once.
• Three 6s in a row and the third is cancelled: your turn ends.
• The extra roll for getting a piece home is a house rule. It’s on unless the host of a private table turns it off.

Winning

• The first to get all four pieces home wins.
• With three or four players, everyone else plays on for the other places.

Snakes & Ladders

Getting started

• Everyone has one piece, waiting off the board.
• Roll a 6 to start: your piece goes straight to square 6.

Moving

• Your piece moves itself by the number you roll, along the numbered rows.
• Land at the foot of a ladder to climb it. Land on a snake’s head to slide down.
• Pieces can share a square. No one gets captured.
• Rolling a 6 earns another roll.

Winning

• Reaching 100 takes an exact roll. A roll that goes past it leaves your piece where it is.
• The first to 100 wins. With three or four players, everyone else plays on for the other places.

Playing online

At an online table

• You have 15 seconds for each roll and each move. If time runs out, the game plays for you.
• Run out of time three times in a row, or once after being away for 45 seconds, and a computer keeps your seat warm. Come back any time to take it back.