Speeding up Ludo for kids with simple house rules
Ahmed Moaz · 15 October 2026
Want to speed up Ludo for kids? Cut the distance, not the fun. Play with two pieces each instead of four, start with one piece already out, and set a timer. These are suggestions for a board on your table, not official ludo rules, and they remove the two things that make children drift off: waiting for a six and the long walk home.
Why a game of Ludo drags
Every piece needs a six before it can leave the corner. A six comes up one throw in six, so the average wait is six throws, and one player in three is still waiting after six throws, because (5/6) to the sixth power is 33.5 per cent. For an eight-year-old that is six turns of nothing.
Then comes the walk. On the board the online game uses, a piece takes 56 squares after it enters. Four pieces make 224 squares, and an average throw is 3.5, so the pure walking is 64 throws a player before anything goes wrong. Things go wrong: pieces get sent home, and the last squares need the exact number.
So how long does a game of Ludo take? A computer-played four-player game of the same rules averaged 121.84 rounds, which the project counts as about 394 turns once players who have finished stop taking them. Even at five seconds a turn that is over half an hour, and few children keep that up. A two-player game averaged 71.59 rounds, so about 143 turns, which is nearer 12 minutes at the same pace.
Three house rules that shorten it
To shorten a game of Ludo without changing what it is, pick from these. Anyone who has ever tried to play Ludo with children knows the real enemy is the wait.
| House rule | Squares to walk | Throws, distance only |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, four pieces | 224 | 64 |
| Three pieces each | 168 | 48 |
| Two pieces each | 112 | 32 |
The table is paper arithmetic. It leaves out captures, bonus throws and wasted throws, so real games run longer, but the ratios hold.
- Two pieces each. Halving the pieces halves the walk and the number of sixes you need.
- One piece starts out. Everyone begins with a piece on their start square, so nobody sits through the six-throw wait on turn one.
- A time limit. Agree twenty minutes on a kitchen timer. When it rings, finish the round, add up how far each player's pieces have travelled, and the furthest wins.
Choose one or two, not all three. Say them aloud before the first throw, and write them on a card by the board if the kids like rules. Whatever you choose, keep the exact-number finish. A piece stuck two squares short and waiting for a two is the classic Ludo cliffhanger, and children remember it.
When a teenager asks for Ludo online
The house rules above are for a physical ludo board. Online, the rules are fixed, so nothing can be shortened, and the site is for older players. Boardit's terms tell anyone under 13 not to use it. A table seats two to four people, which suits a parent and a teenager who want a quick two-player game, or a teenager playing Ludo with friends.
A teenager curious about Ludo online can open a table on Boardit, a free site meant for teens and adults.
Should younger players keep the capture rule?
Keep it, and soften it if tears are likely. A capture is the only drama in a two-player game, and captures are rare: two-player games played by computer had about 4.4 in 72 rounds. A softer version sends a captured piece back to the start of the track, not to the corner. That is my suggestion, not a rule of the game.
Ahmed Moaz makes Boardit, a free browser game site.