Talk:Ludo

Backgammon

Is ludo and backgammon related? Though not the same, there are some similarities. 1. if your piece land on an opponent piece, you send him home. 2. if you stack up your pieces, you protect them from being capture. 3. I played a version that rolls two dices at a time and a free replay whenever you roll double, i.e. similar to backgammon again.

Cut and paste history

Can the history and the talk page of the board game be associated with the new disambiguated page? I don't really know how to fix this. Vadmium 02:15, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I think I was referring to a WP:cut-and-paste move that got reverted a couple months later. Vadmium (talk) 01:52, 28 May 2011 (UTC).

Slovenian link

The Slovenian game link seems to just go to a chat page... I won't delete it, because I don't speak the languages to know if I'm missing something!

Probably gone by now. Vadmium (talk) 01:52, 28 May 2011 (UTC).

Criticism

I have removed the following recent addition from the article:

Ludo's very simple to grasp rules and quick nature lend it well to a family game, particularly when young children are involved (and of course, any game involving numbers can aid in early math development).

Despite this, Ludo is criticised by many as being a game of futility, as absolutely no player skill is involved in winning - the victor is decided by successive dice rolls. Most board games, especially fiercely competitive examples such as Chess, allow the players to form a strategy of some form in order to attain victory; Ludo lacks this depth. Even games such as Monopoly, which famously involve many dice rolls, contain an element of player skill (in the form of purchase decisions).

When more than one piece is on the move, it is not correct that "absolutely no player skill is involved". I'm not sure the rest of this section really belongs to this encyclopaedia article. Feel free to put it back in, but please make sure it is correct.--Niels Ø 07:42, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

I beg to differ that, if the ability to spot all possible moves is taken as a player skill too. That is, if the experienced player is able to spot all optimal moves (such as all the moves to kick an opponent's piece back to the starting point), he has a certain advantage than an inexperienced opponent. There is also more optimal moves in the Chinese version, such as moving a piece to a space of its own colour whenever possible, in order to move 4 more spaces, or moving a piece to exploit the arrow move which provides a shortcut. Kiwi8 08:15, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

That's why Ludo world championships are so crowded of Ludo Grandmasters and hard-working students of such a complex game. Whenever I play with the World Ludo Champion, I always lose... certainly a game of skill, not luck. --Taraborn 22:35, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Better play description?

I find several bits of the description utterly confusing. Would something mind explaining (in the article!) what these statements mean?

"To the left of each home column, one square from the edge of the board, is a starting square, also coloured."

In the diagram I cannot find such a square. I can see a large squarish object, but these have many details inside, which look a lot like the "spaces" on the board. Are these details to be ignored? IE, is the entire red block with the cross of red squares inside it the starting square? If so, this should be mentioned!

"At the start of the game, the player's pieces are placed in the areas to the next to the arms."

Do you mean the "starting square"? I'm pretty sure it does. If so, this should say that as opposed to the unclear "areas next to the arms". The tabletop is next to the arms, for instance.

"A player moves one of their pieces forward"

What is "forward"? There is an earlier mention of "clockwise around the perimeter of the board", but I am equally confused about "perimeter of the board". The starting squares are on the perimeter of the board, but I'm guessing they are not included?

"it passes along the "home column" of its colour."

I assume "passes along" means "moves up the column"? If this is true, where does it enter the column? On the colored square that lies in the outside row? Does it have to be an exact roll?

I assume there is some sort of pattern of moving from the starting square out into the uncolored squares (starting where?), along the white ones (stopping on the triangles in the middle?), then to the colored home row (entering it where?) and finally to the center? Can someone explain how a single red marker would move around the board? That would help greatly!

Pictures should be used for explaining how the pieces move. Anyone good with vector graphics? Tronic2 (talk) 07:03, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

Maury 19:48, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree that several parts of the explanation are obscure. I'm not sure is this is just because they are badly written, or because different variants of the game are being muddled together. None of the sources cited seems authoritative. The description of 'blocks' is especially unclear. There is a reference to blocks being 'advanced', but no explanation of what this means. Does it mean that a block of two or more pieces can be moved together? If so, how does this work? If a player gets a 5, does it mean they can move a block along 5 places,. or what? For comparison, in Backgammon there is something similar to 'blocks', where two or more pieces of the same colour are on the same point, but the block cannot be moved as a whole unless the player throws a double, which is possible in Backgammon (since 2 dice are thrown) but not in Ludo.2A00:23C8:7907:4B01:E902:FD8D:24AA:A82E (talk) 14:44, 19 January 2023 (UTC)

Mensch_ärgere_dich_nicht

Ludo in East Africa

Momo2008 uk recently added three paragraphs about ludo in East Africa. I wonder:

1. Can any sources be given for this info?
2. Are the variants described actually known as Ludo in that area, or is it in fact one of the many other Cross and circle games?

--Noe (talk) 09:42, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Hey ludo in East africa goes with the name ludoverse it's on Facebook as ludoverse with great tournaments

It's a game of skill/strategy chance and luck Hirstshiluli (talk) 19:45, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

Thanks! I'm Noe, but I've changed my username sinde 2009 ;-) Sound more like a related cross-and-cirlce game than actually Ludo, as Ludo has very little skill or strategy? Nø (talk) 19:15, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Variants

This seems to be the same game as Kimble/Trouble [1] but just with a different board. Could someone who knows more write a section about their similarities and differences? Tronic2 (talk) 07:08, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

The English version of the page about this game and Parchisi are really kind of, well, unclear on variation. Compare with this german language section Dlamblin (talk) 11:49, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Globe and star

Are the globe and star spaces unique to Denmark? I have never seen a board without them.

--Klausok (talk) 07:20, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

May be. I was never in Denmark, and I have never seen a board with them. Eddau (talk) 11:07, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Need more ref?

Wil this help?

Who is going to write the strategy section?

I wrote one in the Hebrew article, so in case I do not translate it, feel free to write it yourselfs. Eddau (talk) 18:02, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Other variants

The "other variants" section should somehow link to the article and the category on cross and circle games. And list of national names and variants should be either complete, balanced ("due weight"), or absent (except for the aforementioned links).--Nø (talk) 08:53, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Ludo and Uckers

The gameboard is precisely the same. They are identical gameboards. Doesn't that provide basis enough, that Uckers is closely related to Ludo enough, that Uckers would qualify as a 'See also' item, at the Ludo article? (Looking at the same question from a different perspective, if Uckers is not included as a 'See also' item at the Ludo article, when their gameboards are precisely the same and identical ... wouldn't that cause a bit of confusion to an average reader ... seeing that there is no link whatever or connection or mention of game of Uckers, at the Ludo article?)

I could understand disclusion without a criteria for comparing the closeness of their relationship, if there were, say, multiple games that use the same board, that have their own articles. Maybe there are. (Do you know if their are? My assumption is that Uckers is the only other game, that has its own article, using that precise gameboard. Maybe that is wrong. Do you know if there are any others?)

Ihardlythinkso (talk) 18:23, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

I do not know how many of the cross-and-circle games that are identical, or nearly so, or how nearly... The matter is complicated by the fact that many players around the world have various "house rules" or variants, so that e.g. "Ludo" is far from being well-defined. It would be great if someone could do a systematic revision and comparison of all these articles, or even better, find the answer in a reliable source. Until then, I think the "see also" section in each article should be composed of at most these things:

1. A link to the article about this broad family of games
2. Possibly one or more links to specific games with an explicit statement of the relationship between these games that warrant inclusion.
3. Possibly other "See also" links (such as a link to an article about the World Championship in the game in question, if such a thing existed)

This way, if you re-add your links with an explicit statement that the games are identical, there will be a fact that someone might challenge if they disagree.

By the way, if they really ARE identical, I think the correct solution would be to merge the articles, mentioning both names in boldface in the lead, and make "the other" article a redirect. The name for the article proper should be the one that makes moste sense to an English-speaking audience; I don't know which name that would be in this case. (I'm strongly inclined to the name "Ludo" since that is the name of the game in my language, Danish, but that, of course, is an invalid argumenmt!)--Nø (talk) 16:50, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Not sure I'm following you ... My only contention is, since article Uckers exists, and that sister-game uses the identical gameboard Ludo uses, making a 'See also' to Uckers in the Ludo article is appropriate. (And to *not* include it, is begging confusion!) Whatever criteria a future review or research would produce re what s/ or s/not be included in the Ludo 'See also' list, will no doubt include Uckers. (So, how can including it now, be a mistake?) Ihardlythinkso (talk) 23:08, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Uckers See also Ihardlythinkso (talk) 23:18, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

OK, there are several ways of doing this. One may simply include Uckers under "see also" as you suggest; I'm against this as it will not be clear on what reasons Uckers is included while other Cross-and-circle games are not ()and including all of them is silly; that's what the category is for). Secondly, one may include Uckers in the "see also" section with a brief explanation like "(similar game played on identical board)" or whatever is appropriate. I'd have no objection to that. Thirdly, "see also" sections should only contain links that for some reason don't fit in elsewhere in the article. One might instead write a short paragraph on Uckers and link from there. Finally, if the games are virtually identical, as I said the appropriate solution is a full merge.--Nø (talk) 07:59, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

GB189616426 (A) - A New Drawing Room Game

• http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=22&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=18960912&CC=GB&NR=189616426A&KC=A

~~ Xb2u7Zjzc32 (talk) 10:00, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

"Don't be Angry"

I have heard of this imitation called "Don't be Angry". Is that simply an imitation of Ludo? Qwertyxp2000 (talk | contribs) 23:54, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

As mentioned in the article, the German version of Ludo is called "Mensch ärgere dich nicht" which roughly translates to "Man, don't get angry." So it may be a different variation of Ludo. Digitarchive (talk) 10:14, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Pakistani variation

An IP user recently added this:

In Pakistan, there is a variation that is really interesting and it keeps all the player's interest held within the game. It is played wiih two dice. Each player has an option to move its piece/token either forward or backward. for example if rolling the dice gives 1 and 4 then player can move its single piece 4 blocks forward and then brings it 1 step backwards or 1 step forwards and 4 steps backward or 1 & 4 backward/forward. Its all about the different possibilties. Moreover player can move one of his piece 1 step backward/forward and another piece 4 steps backward/forward.

I agree this is an interesting variation, but someone are likey to revert the addition because (a) it's not quite encyclopaedic in style, and (b) it lacks a valid source/citation. Is there a source one could cite for this?

Another thing, what is this game called in Pakistan? We have a rather unfortunate situation on Wikipedia where there's one article on Ludo, another on Parcheesi, etc., though these games are really just variations or different localized names for one and the same game - see also Cross and circle game. Perhaps this addition belongs in one of those other articles? (Actually, in terms of likely cultural travel routes, I'd guess the game in Pakistan either descends directly from the Indian Pachisi, or comes through the British Ludo, rather than through the American Parcheesi - but I don't know.)--Nø (talk) 14:52, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

Re backwards movement, the sole advantage/use (that I can see) is for landing on an opponent's token. (Am I seeing it right?) --IHTS (talk) 01:06, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Oh! -- and also getting to home in a precise roll. Ok, --IHTS (talk) 01:07, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Or landing two pieces (of same colour) on the same square, if that's allowed, or landing on a protected square, if such exist in this variant. As I said, I think it's an interesting variant, simply becuase it gives the player more options and thus removes Ludo a bit further from a simplistic race game like Game of the Goose.--Nø (talk) 08:08, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Translation of "Mensch ärgere dich nicht"

In the nomencaltuer section, we say:

• In Germany, this game is called "Mensch ärgere dich nicht" which means "Man, don't get upset"...

"Upset" was "irritated" until a recent edit. Google translate suggests "Man, don't fret". My German is not good so I may be influenced by the similar Danish "ærgre", but I think "ärgere" is more "irritate" or "annoy" than "upset" or "fret". (Another thing: "Man" must here be in the sense "human", but I guess "man" is the best translation in agreement with current English usage and style.)--Nø (talk) 07:16, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 5 June 2018

"change link of encarta encylopedia in reference to https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pachisi " "add a column of trend of becoming this game hit online with links from google play like: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.akshita.ludobattle and others" Vanshajdaga (talk) 16:59, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

Replaced the broken source w/ a source that actually supports the text. --IHTS (talk) 22:09, 5 June 2018 (UTC)

As far as the game app, no, it's advertisement, spam, see WP:ELNO. --IHTS (talk) 09:35, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Origin from a game from Sumeria

The british museum released a video about a game from Sumeria that in it's simplified form at least is very similar to games like Ludo. At least it felt very similar to me. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZskjLq040I / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHjznvH54Cw) I have absolutely no reference about this but is there any connection between the presented game and Ludo/parchesi? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Valmendil (talk • contribs) 23:02, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

@Valmendil: You're certainly correct that there are some similarities between the Royal Game of Ur and Pachisi, both in play and design. I take these as similarities of genre (they're both Race games). Offhand, I'm not aware of a reliable source that suggests a historical connection between them. Irving Finkel does not mention Pachisi in his paper "On the Rules for the Royal Game of Ur" in Ancient Board Games in Perspective -- more provocatively, in his introduction to Sedentary Games of India, he does not mention a connection to Pachisi while writing about the Royal Game of Ur occurring in India, both archeologically and as played by the Cochin Jews at least down to the 20th century. If Finkel doesn't postulate a historical connection, then I suspect there's not good evidence for one. Phil wink (talk) 05:46, 22 April 2020 (UTC)

@Phil wink: I would argue the your premise should be exactly the opposite. Even if (or better especially if) there is no evidence: If the Royal Game of Ur existed already 4,500 years ago and has been played continuously since then and references to Pachisi don't date earlier than 1100-800BC (which is about 1500 years later) it can be safely assumed that the earlier game developed into the later game with the change of creating the cross shape for up to 4 players. Both of them falling into the category of race games doesn't negate the fact that Pachisi is more or less the 2-4 player version of the Royal Game of Ur. I mean the Settlers of Catan with the 6 player extension is still a variant of the Settlers of Catan, isn't it? The fact that both are in the strategy building board game category is a consequence of them being derivates and thus cannot be used as an argument against them being derivates of the same game. Tcs75 (talk) 16:15, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

@Tcs75:But wikipedia does not make up such connections. Maybe the two games share a source. Maybe one is the source of the other. Maybe they are creations of a type almost bound to happen in cultures of a certain complexity. (The native American games similar to Ludo are either transmitted via some undocumented Thor Heyerdahl-like connection, or independently created.) We do not know - and to include speculations like these in the article, we need proper sources.--Nø (talk) 18:45, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

Nomenclature sec

Nø, "This is not a dictionary. Non-English names in individual countries are not relevant, except as interwiki links." [2]

A dictonary provides definitions. The entires in the Nomenclature sec weren't definitions. I'd think the foreign names & translations w/ have some encyclopedic value, do you have a WP policy that says only in interwiki links? Instead of eliminating the sec, how about moving it to less prominent position, as is done at Scholar's Mate? --IHTS (talk) 04:31, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Translation dictionaries may only have definitions where they are needed to avoid ambiguity.

I am not on top of policies, but any random article could have a list of translations into any random number of languages. What would the criterion for inclusion be? It does not make sense to me!--Nø (talk) 08:37, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Origin of the name "Ludo"

Is it known what the origin/etymology of the name "Ludo" is? Can anyone find a source for it and add this information to the article? (I know "ludo" is Esperanto for "game", but I've got no idea whether that's got anything to do with it.) 95.90.232.67 (talk) 10:04, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

@95.90.232.67: May I discreetly point you the the first few words of the article: "Ludo (/ˈljuːdoʊ/; from Latin ludo 'I play')" ;-)--Nø (talk) 16:31, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• Cover of Game of Headache (UK version).jpg

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 20:07, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Requested move 29 September 2022

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. (non-admin closure) ‡ Night Watch ω (talk) 18:45, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

---

• Ludo (board game) → Ludo
• Ludo → Ludo (disambiguation)

– Per pageviews analysis of past 12 months of 9 articles starting with "Ludo", Ludo (board game), Ludo (film) and Ludo King (not mentioned at dab) have comparable pageviews with the board game coming on top by a small margin, while the remaining Ludos are far far below them. However, both Ludo (film) & Ludo King (mobile game app) are named so because of the Ludo (board game) and their names are thus, dependent on it. Ludo (board game) has far greater long-term significance than a 2020 bollywood movie & a mobile game app and hence is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for "Ludo". See also, clickstream data from Ludo (currently dab page). —CX Zoom[he/him] ^{(let's talk • {C•X})} 16:44, 29 September 2022 (UTC)

• Support per nom. Very clear primary topic. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:50, 6 October 2022 (UTC)
• Support definitely seems to be a long-time primary topic. Move and hatnote to relocated disambiguation page. Skynxnex (talk) 16:47, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Wiki Education assignment: Sparks Gaming the System

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 24 August 2022 and 16 December 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): KabimosM (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by KabimosM (talk) 18:44, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

Jamaican variant

I realise I'm not logged in, don't have an account, and I have no intention of editing. I just wanted to point out that there is a Jamaican variant of Ludo,known as Ludi, played with much excitement and delight on the streets of Brixton, London,(they balance the board on a bin top near here). I believe some gambling goes on ;). Obviously I won't edit this in myself, but I hope someone here can find a source for it and put it in. 82.69.45.81 (talk) 15:21, 22 April 2023 (UTC)