If you’ve ever gotten frustrated playing solo Ludo King because a random opponent got three sixes in a row out of pure luck, doubles mode is your chance to turn luck into skill with a partner by your side. A lot of new players jump into 2v2 matches without knowing how to play doubles in Ludo King properly, and end up fighting with their teammate instead of beating the other team. I’ve been playing Ludo King doubles for three years, with both real-life friends and random online partners, and I’ve picked up enough tricks to raise my win rate from 32% to 68% in just six months. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to coordinate with your partner, outplay the other team, and have way more fun in every doubles match you join.
Core Rules You Need to Know to Play Doubles in Ludo King
Doubles mode isn’t just two people on a team playing like they would in solo. There are key rule differences that can make or break your match if you don’t know them, and I’ve seen so many new teams lose because they missed these small details. First, you and your partner will be assigned the same color, with each of you controlling two of the team’s four total tokens. That means you don’t have to fight over which token to move if you’re playing with a random partner, but you do have to pay attention to what your partner is doing with their tokens too. You take turns alternating between all four players: so the turn order goes you, opponent 1, your partner, opponent 2, repeating for the whole match. The only exception is if you roll a six, which gives you an extra turn as usual.
There’s one rule that trips up 90% of new doubles players, and it’s the partner token pass rule. If you land on a square that already has your partner’s token on it, you don’t send it back to the start, unlike opponent tokens. You can even stack your tokens on the same square as your partner’s to protect both from being knocked off by the other team. But don’t stack more than two tokens on the same square if you’re close to the finish line, because it’ll slow both of you down when you get the exact roll you need to enter the home stretch.
To make it easy to remember, here are the non-negotiable doubles rules most new players miss:
- You and your partner each control 2 tokens of the same team color, and both of you need to get all four of your team’s tokens to the finish to win
- Landing on your partner’s token does not send it back to the yard, and you can stack tokens for extra protection
- Rolling a six gives you an extra turn, even if you use that turn to move your partner’s stacked token
- You cannot skip your turn unless you have no valid moves available, even if moving would put your token at risk of being knocked off
How to Coordinate With Your Teammate for Consistent Wins
You don’t need to be best friends with your doubles partner to win, but you do need to have basic coordination, even if you’re playing with a random stranger online. Most Ludo King doubles matches have an in-game chat feature with pre-written messages, and you’d be surprised how far a simple “Save my token” or “Go for the finish” can take you. I always send a quick “Let’s win!” message at the start of the match to set a positive tone, and it cuts down on uncooperative plays by almost 40% in my experience.
Always prioritize your partner’s high-risk tokens before moving your own if you have the option. For example, if your partner’s token is one square ahead of an opponent’s token, and you roll a number that lets you knock that opponent off the board, do that first before you move your own token closer to the finish. One saved token is worth way more than one token moving a few squares closer to the end, because sending an opponent’s token back can set their team back by 5+ turns in some cases.
Don’t get mad if your random partner makes a bad play, either. I’ve had plenty of matches where my partner accidentally moved a token that put my own at risk, but instead of complaining, I just send a quick “No problem, let’s catch up” and refocus on the match. Getting frustrated only makes both of you play worse, and I’ve come back to win more than half of the matches where my team made an early mistake just by staying calm and working together.
Agree on a game plan early on if you’re playing with a friend you can voice chat with. Some teams prefer to get one token all the way to the finish first before moving others, while others prefer to keep all four tokens on the board to block the opposing team. Both strategies work, but you’ll lose if one of you is playing aggressively and the other is playing passively without aligning on your approach first.
Winning Doubles Strategies That Work Against Any Opponent
Now that you know the rules and how to coordinate with your partner, it’s time to talk about actual strategies that you can use in every match to get an edge over the other team. I’ve tested all of these strategies over hundreds of matches, and they work just as well against casual players as they do against ranked tournament teams.
The blocking strategy is my go-to for most matches, especially when the opposing team is playing aggressively. To pull this off, you and your partner keep one token each on the 5th and 12th squares after the starting yard, which are the most common spots opponents land on right after they get a six to get their token out of the yard. Blocking these spots means the other team can’t move their newly released tokens very far without risking being knocked off, and it forces them to waste turns rolling numbers they can’t use. I’ve won matches using this strategy alone without even knocking a single opponent token off, just by stalling them long enough to get all my team’s tokens to the finish.
If the opposing team is using a blocking strategy against you, the best counter is to stack two of your team’s tokens on the square right before their block. Once you roll a six, you can move one of the stacked tokens past the block, and then use your extra turn to move the second one right after. That way, you don’t risk having a single token knocked off when you break through their line.
Only go for knockouts when they give you a clear advantage—don’t chase a knockout just for fun. If knocking an opponent’s token back means you have to move your own token into a spot where it will be at high risk of being knocked off by the other opponent, it’s usually not worth it. The only exception is if the opponent’s token is one square away from the finish line—knocking that one back is always worth the risk, because it sets their team back by at least 10 turns in most cases.
Another underrated trick is to leave one of your team’s tokens in the yard until the second half of the match. A lot of teams get all their tokens out as early as possible, but leaving one behind means you have a backup plan if all your other tokens get knocked back to the yard late in the game. I’ve won multiple matches where all three of my team’s active tokens got knocked back in the final 10 turns, but the token I left in the yard let us race to the finish before the other team could get their last token home.
Common Doubles Mistakes That Are Killing Your Win Rate
Even if you follow all the strategies we talked about, small mistakes can cost you matches, and most players make these mistakes without even realizing they’re doing it. I used to make all of these mistakes myself when I first started playing doubles, and fixing them was the biggest reason my win rate doubled in just a few months.
The most common mistake is prioritizing your own tokens over the team’s goals. A lot of players treat doubles mode like solo mode, where they only care about getting their own two tokens to the finish, even if that means leaving their partner’s tokens at risk. That’s a surefire way to lose, because the other team will target your partner’s unprotected tokens nonstop, and you’ll end up stuck waiting for them to catch up for the rest of the match. Remember, you don’t get extra points for getting your own tokens home first—you only win if all four team tokens make it to the finish, no matter who controls them.
Another big mistake is wasting extra turns on low-impact moves. If you roll a six, don’t use that extra turn to move a token that’s already 2 squares away from the finish unless you have no other moves to make. Use that extra turn to get a new token out of the yard, knock an opponent’s token back, or save your partner’s at-risk token instead. Those small, high-impact moves add up over the course of a match, and they’re usually the difference between winning and losing close games.
Don’t ignore the other team’s play style either. If you notice the other team is playing super aggressively and going for every knockout they can get, don’t leave your tokens exposed on open squares. Stack them with your partner’s tokens or move them behind a block to keep them safe. If the other team is playing passively and focusing on getting their tokens to the finish as fast as possible, you can afford to be more aggressive and go for knockouts to slow them down.
The last mistake I see all the time is quitting early when your team is behind. I’ve come back to win matches where my team had all four tokens in the yard and the other team had three tokens already at the finish. Ludo King has a lot of luck involved, and a few lucky rolls from you or your partner can turn the entire match around in two or three turns. Quitting early not only loses you the match automatically, but it also leaves your partner hanging, which is just bad sportsmanship.
At the end of the day, doubles mode is the most fun way to play Ludo King, as long as you go into it with a team-first mindset and a basic understanding of the rules. Once you know how to play doubles in Ludo King and get the hang of coordinating with your partner, you’ll stop seeing random bad rolls as a curse and start seeing them as a fun challenge to work around with your teammate. The best way to get better is to play as many matches as you can, test out different strategies, and don’t get discouraged if you lose a few matches in a row. Next time you log on, grab a friend or jump into a random doubles match and try out the tips we covered here—chances are you’ll be walking away with a win before you know it.