A combination of luck and strategy best describes the venerable game of ludo. While the player has no sway over the luck part of the game, they do have a smattering of control over the game’s strategy. Instead of trying to change your luck, focussing on a sound game plan would be a worthwhile approach, as it will more likely yield the result you are looking for. As Life Hacker says, apart from boasting of entertainment value, ludo and other board games like it have quite a few things they can teach us about the real world.
Proven Methods to Improve Ludo Skills
While ludo does not require the kind of tactical awareness seen in games like chess, plotting out your course of action with the aid of the below-mentioned tips will help you in the game.
1. Understand The Game’s Lingo Well:
One of the first steps towards learning how to play ludo well is to pay attention to its many subtleties. You would do well by first analyzing the board itself. Give consideration to the layout and how to make the most of the safe zones and other parts of the board, such as your home stretch, where you are safe from the rival’s tokens.
2. Do What You Can To Impede Your Opponent’s Progress:
One way in which you can plan for victory is by figuring out ways to hurt your opponent’s progress in the game. Keeping their tokens within arm’s reach of yours and targeting all of their pieces as much as possible will help to that end. Pursuing their tokens aggressively, would most likely cause them to slip up and make an error giving you a chance to swoop in for the kill. Just make sure that in your eagerness to pursue and procure some satisfaction by eliminating rival tokens, you don’t lose sight of where yours are and risk having them taken out.
3. Take All Your Tokens Out At The First Opportunity:
Sure, you will need to roll a couple of sixes to get them out. But unless you do that, there is no way you are going to win. Even if you already have a token on the move and get a six, use it to bring out another one in the race. Use the next roll of the die to move other coins. Only once all the pieces have exited the home zone can you hurry them along to the finish line. Do not bunch up your tokens in proximity to each other, else they will be vulnerable to attack.
4. Keep Optimal Distance From Your Rival:
There is such a thing as too close for comfort! And the nearer the rival tokens are to you, the greater the chance of one or more of your pieces being sent back to the home zone to start all over again. And it can be to quite the ordeal for rolling a six to get the token out again. At the very least, the ideal number of steps would be seven, as the maximum number on the die is six. This means being seven or more steps away from your nearest rival’s pieces would keep you safe from the danger of elimination.
5. Play The Waiting Game:
When taking a close look at the ludo board, you would have noticed star-shaped patterns all around the board. These are designated safe spots for any tokens that land there. If you have the good fortune to wind up there with another player in close proximity, play it safe and continue on after they pass by you. This tactic would only work if you have more than one piece out, else you would have to take a chance and keep the coin moving along.
6. Resist The Temptation To Pull Your Punches:
Once the game of ludo begins, the gloves come off, and it’s every person for themselves. Forget the fact that you are playing with your friends, as going for the jugular is the only way to win. Chase down their tokens with more than one piece of yours. Doing so will vastly increase the chances of successfully sending their pieces back to their home zone.
7. Watch Out For The Player In The Leading Position:
There are no prizes for finishing second, and people are known only to remember the victor, not the vanquished. And we all know which side of the fence we prefer. Follow the player who’s in a strong position. The ideal candidate is the player who’s already taken most of his tokens home relative to other players. Keeping this player in your crosshairs will increase your chances of winning the game. Just don’t become obsessed with one player, as other players will take advantage of your fixation and sneak in a win right under your nose.
8. Plan Ahead And Keep Other Players Guessing:
When playing ludo, consider what approach you will adopt. Picking an aggressive or passive strategy will make you predictable, and the last thing you would want is your rivals reading you like a book. Instead, adopt a passive-aggressive strategy, as it is an exciting mix that will keep your opponent guessing as to what your next move might be. Let these helpful tips be a part of both your short-term and long-term strategy for winning at ludo. A mix of all these will produce a robust and well-thought-out game-winning proposition. Stick with them, and soon you will be able to identify chinks in the armor of your rivals and make use of the opportunities that present themselves as a result.
