Ludo House Rules: Take Out on a 6, Cut to Unlock Home and Must Cut
Ask five families how they play Ludo and you'll get five different answers. Some only let a piece out on a 6. Some won't let you go home until you've cut someone. Some punish you for passing up a cut.
PlayLudo now lets you choose the rules you grew up with. You'll find them in Game Rules: in the main menu for your defaults, in the online lobby before a game starts, and in Pass & Play setup.
Which Roll Takes a Piece Out
| Option | Takes a piece out |
|---|---|
| 6 only (default) | a 6 |
| 1 only | a 1 |
| 1 or 6 | a 1 or a 6 |
A 6 always gives you another turn. A 1 gives you another turn only when a 1 can take a piece out, so under "6 only" a 1 is an ordinary roll.
Cut to Unlock Home (Optional)
Your pieces can't go home until you've cut someone.
- Until you cut an opponent's piece, your home is locked. A small lock sits on the first square of your home column.
- A piece that reaches the turn into home while you're locked doesn't go in. It carries on round the board for another lap.
- The moment any of your pieces cuts an opponent, your home unlocks for all your pieces, for the rest of the game. The lock disappears.
- Being cut yourself never locks you again.
Why play it: it stops a player sneaking home without ever taking a risk, and makes every game more aggressive.
Must Cut (Optional)
If you can cut, you'd better cut.
- If your roll lets one of your pieces land on an opponent, but you move a different piece instead, you've missed a cut.
- Straight after that move, your piece closest to home goes back to your yard. That can even be a piece already in your home column. Pieces that have reached home are safe.
- Taking a piece out of your yard instead of cutting counts as a miss too.
- Everyone at the table sees a message saying who missed a cut.
When the game moves for you because you only have one possible move, you can't miss a cut.
Why play it: it turns every roll into a decision and punishes playing it safe.
Playing both
With Cut to unlock home and Must cut both on, a locked player who can cut has to. Conveniently, that's also how they unlock home.
Extra Turns and Winning
- Kill grants extra turn (on by default): cutting an opponent gives you another turn.
- Reaching home grants extra turn (off by default): getting a piece home gives you another turn.
- Triple 1's penalty (off by default): rolling three 1s in a row sends your piece closest to home back. It needs 1 to take pieces out, because otherwise a 1 never rolls again.
- Continue after winner (on by default): the game carries on for second and third place after someone wins.
Who Sets the Rules?
- Online: the player who created the room sets the rules in the lobby before starting. Everyone plays by them.
- Pass & Play: set them on the setup screen.
- Your defaults: set them once in the main menu's Settings, and every new game starts with them.
Not sure where to start? Try 6 only with Cut to unlock home for a classic game that rewards bold play.
New to Ludo? Start with our complete guide to the rules.