Short answer
In the Hanafi fatwa, ludo and other dice games such as snakes and ladders, backgammon and other dice-based board games are makruh tahrimi, because the Prophet ﷺ condemned nard, a dice game, and the outcome rests on the throw of the dice. With money they are gambling and haram. Some scholars allow dice games for family fun without betting or neglect of duties.
Games decided by dice are makruh tahrimi by analogy with nard, even without money. With betting they are haram as gambling.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Nard (nardashir) was a dice game played in Persia and Arabia, close to modern backgammon. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever plays it is like one who dips his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig, and that whoever plays nard has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. These are strong words for a game, and the four schools agree that nard is forbidden.
Ludo is a dice game in the same family: you roll, you move, and luck decides most of the result. That is why the Hanafi muftis treat ludo, snakes and ladders, backgammon and other dice-based board games as makruh tahrimi, the same grade al-Durr al-Mukhtar gives nard and chess. Online ludo apps add further problems: hours lost, ads, and often coins or bets.
Some contemporary scholars hold that the hadith on nard targeted a game tied to gambling and idle hours, and allow a dice game played occasionally with family, as long as:
- no money, coins or stakes of any kind are involved;
- salah is not delayed and duties are not neglected;
- it does not lead to shouting, swearing or fights.
If you follow the Hanafi fatwa, choose games of skill and learning instead: puzzles, word games, building games, sports and quiz games. Little children who play ludo carry no sin, and parents can gently move them to other games as they grow.
See also is playing cards haram, is chess haram and are video games haram.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Dice games played for money are gambling.
Sahih Muslim 2260
Sahih... من لعب بالنردشير فكأنما صبغ يده في لحم خنزير ودمه ...
"Whoever plays nardashir is like one who dips his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig."
Dice games of chance are condemned.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4938
Graded hasan... من لعب بالنرد فقد عصى الله ورسوله ...
"Whoever plays nard has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger."
The basis for the ruling on dice games.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha, section on games. Playing nard and similar games is makruh tahrimi.
- Minhaj al-Talibin (al-Nawawi), Kitab al-Shahadat. Playing nard is haram in the sound view, and chess is disliked.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.