Ludo

For me, Ludo is a family game. I got introduced to it through family and I continue playing it with family.

Before the era of devices, we had a ludo board that we would take out whenever we sat together as a family or when the electricity went off. We had one dice that we used for all our games, and different types of tokens.

The first time I played it was in my hometown. When I was still a kid without phones and tablets and I would bond together with my cousins. I didn't understand the point of it the first time i played, but the moment I got eaten was when I realised how fun it would be.

There's a different kind of joy that comes with winning a Ludo game. Finishing before others, chilling happily inside your home and watching everyone else fight to win next made me feel very accomplished.

There are some terms that we use everytime. Whenever we get a chance to "eat" someone, we yell EAT EAT in my mother tongue. When we get closer to our house we say "get inside the house".

Its so funny how a simple game like Ludo can lead to so many feuds. God forbid someone does not notice their chance to eat another player, but then someone yells eat and is hit with the most nastiest glare ever. I've been witness to many arguments and playful slaps over it.

Slowly, we started moving to digital Ludo. Ludo King. Once again, I was introduced to it through family. One evening my uncle pulls out his phone and calls us for Ludo.

Ludo online has a totally different feel. Since we're completely reliant on the algorithms and tech, it somehow gets more competitive.

I actually did a study on the algorithms of the Ludo online game. Since the whole game is based on probability, I was interested in how it would be converted to a digital form.

The game is based on a random number generator (PRNG) algorithm. However, there are instances where it's noted to favour one player over another by always giving 6s and making them reach home faster.

Now initially we didnt know this. We thought it was based completely on our luck. So if we were blessed with 6s in the start we thought it was cheating. How we would cheat an algorithm completely bypassed us, but competitive family games do that sometimes.

Now that i've figured out the algorithm, it's hard to not notice it in play. I didn't want to ruin our family games by explaining it, but sometimes when it's so blatantly obvious I suggest we shift back to how we used to do it. Physically.

After all, there's a different feel that comes with physical games and our interactions with one another rather than with the screen.