Ludo Chai — A Little Chai, a Little Competition

Start with one roll

Choose two, three or four players before beginning. In the default game you face three normal bots. Roll the die, then choose one of the highlighted glasses. A six brings a glass from its stall onto its starting square. Once it is out, a roll moves it that many squares along the path. When there is only one legal choice, the game moves it for you after showing the die.

Each player has four numbered glasses. The numbers match the four choice buttons below the board, so you do not have to hit a tiny piece when several glasses share a square. On a keyboard, Space rolls the die or confirms the selected glass. Left and Right choose among the legal glasses. The game waits for your choice whenever there is more than one.

Stars, captures and home

Landing on another player’s glass sends that glass back to its stall unless the landing square has a safe star. The default board protects the four starting squares and the other marked stars. Glasses may share a safe square. This version does not add a blockade rule when two of your own glasses share a square. A capture normally gives you another roll.

After travelling around the shared track, each glass enters its own coloured home lane. Opponents cannot capture a glass there. You need an exact roll to finish: a glass two steps from home cannot move on a three. Bring all four home to win the board. There is no endless score chase after that final glass arrives; you can start another board when you are ready.

Agree the house rules before playing

The settings let you choose whether a six is required to open, whether a six earns another roll, whether a capture earns another roll, whether stars are safe, and whether a third consecutive six is forfeited. By default all five are on. Turning off the opening-six rule lets any roll bring a glass onto its start; it does not also move that glass the value of the roll.

With the three-sixes rule enabled, the third consecutive six ends the turn without a move. Moves already made on the first two sixes stay on the board. Families use different versions of this rule, so this page spells out our version rather than calling it the only correct one. Settings change between boards; they cannot be changed during a move to rescue a threatened glass.

Bots or the people beside you

Easy bots make a simple choice from the available moves. Normal and hard bots consider getting home, opening a glass, safe squares and captures. Later normal-bot levels give more weight to those tactical choices. The die is not made luckier for a bot. The default daily board uses the same starting seed and settings, so player decisions can be compared against the same opening conditions.

Pass and play supports two to four people on one device. Two players sit on opposite sides. Read the turn banner before handing over the phone, then let the next player roll. These are local matches: this version does not offer remote live multiplayer or chat. Pause when the chai arrives and return to the same board when everyone is ready.

A little strategy and your result

A glass close to home is valuable, but keeping every other glass in the stall can leave you with few choices. Consider opening another glass when a six appears. Before moving onto an ordinary square, look for opposing glasses within a die roll behind it. A safe star can be worth more than a small lead, especially when several players have pieces outside.

A solo win records a score of 1,000 minus your rolls, with a minimum of one. A loss scores zero. Fewer rolls therefore give a higher winning score, while the result also shows your captures and sixes. Pass-and-play and custom settings are for friendly practice. For rules around a physical board, open the Ludo house-rules guide in Khel Kitab and agree your family’s choices before rolling.

Questions before your next round

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