DEV Community: Ahmed Moaz

Snakes and Ladders as a Markov chain: 39.23 throws, computed and simulated

Ahmed Moaz — Sat, 07 Nov 2026 09:42:36 +0000

Snakes and Ladders has no decisions, so you can compute it exactly. Here is how I got the number I use in other posts: one counter alone needs 39.23 throws on average to finish the classic board.

The model

The state is the square you stand on, 0 to 100. A throw moves you 1 to 6 squares with equal chance. If the new square is the head of a snake or the foot of a ladder, you move to its other end. If you would pass 100, you stay. That last rule is the exact-finish rule.

That makes a Markov chain with 101 states and one absorbing state, 100. The expected number of throws from each state satisfies a linear system. For a state s that is not 100, E[s] = 1 + (1/6) * sum of E[next(s, d)] over the six throws, with E[100] = 0.

The result

I ran the numbers on 17 October 2026, as a Markov chain and as a simulation of the rules. The mean is 39.23 throws. The median is 32, the 90th percentile 72, and the 99th 128. The fastest possible game is 7 throws.

Some other numbers from the same model:

89.4% of games touch at least one snake.
A game averages 4.23 snake landings and 3.32 ladder landings.
With no snakes or ladders at all, the mean would be 33.33 throws.
Ladders only: 21.84. Snakes only: 118.11.
The exact-finish rule alone costs about 3.4 throws.

Why the median is below the mean

A few long games drag the mean up. A counter that lands on the long snake near the end can lose most of a game, so the distribution has a long tail.

A sanity check you can do

Line up the variants and see whether they come out in the order you would expect. With ladders only, the mean is 21.84 throws. With no snakes or ladders at all, 33.33. On the classic board, 39.23. With snakes only, 118.11. Ladders help, snakes hurt, and the classic board sits between them, closer to the plain track than to the snakes-only board because the ladders cancel part of the damage.

If your own version of the model does not give the same order, look for a bug in how it treats a throw that would pass 100.

Play it

Boardit's Snakes and Ladders uses this board in its Classic setting. It is the board with nine ladders and ten snakes, and it supports two to eight players. The other boards, Ladder Garden and Snake Pit, change the numbers, so the figures above apply to Classic only.

The source is in the game's code if you want to rerun it.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Draw and guess game scoring at the 100-second default: every second, every place, one lookup

Ahmed Moaz — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:02:46 +0000

In the draw and guess game I make, every new table starts on a 100-second clock. That is a convenient number, because the scoring turns into plain arithmetic, and it makes a drawing game online easy to follow from the chat. This page is a lookup. Find the seconds left when someone typed the right word, find their place in the queue, and read off what they scored.

What is a guess worth on a 100-second clock?

Picture a floor and a slope. Every right answer starts at 100, and each second still on the clock adds 4 on top. The result goes to the nearest five. An instant guess scores 500, and a guess in the very last second scores 100.

90 seconds left: 460
80 left: 420
70 left: 380
60 left: 340
50 left: 300
40 left: 260
30 left: 220
20 left: 180
10 left: 140
1 left: 105

These are the speed points. They are the most a guess can earn at that moment, which only the first right answer gets in full.

How much does a place in the queue cost?

Each earlier right answer cuts what the next one keeps. The share is one divided by one plus four fifths of the number of people who got there first. In round figures the first answer keeps the lot, the second about 56 per cent, the third 38, the fourth 29 and the fifth 24. From the sixth place onward a guess keeps 20 per cent, and no lower.

Here is what that means with 70 seconds left, where the speed points are 380:

First: 380
Second: 210
Third: 145
Fourth: 110
Fifth: 90
Sixth and later: 75

And at 30 seconds left, where the speed points are 220: 220, 120, 85, 65, 50, then 45.

Does speed or place matter more?

Speed wins by a wide margin. Being second with 90 seconds left scores 255. Being first with only 20 seconds left scores 180. A quick answer mid-pack beats a lone answer near the buzzer, so type early, even if it is a gamble. A wrong guess carries no penalty.

What does the drawer earn?

The drawer is spared the order cut. Their pay is the average of the speed points earned by the other players, with each person who missed counting as zero. A sketch that the whole table reads quickly therefore pays as much as a quick guess.

Take six players, so five guessers. Four of them get it right, with 90, 70, 50 and 30 seconds left. The fifth never does. Their speed points are 460, 380, 300 and 220, which add up to 1,360. Divided by five other players, that is 272, rounded to 270. The guessers themselves score 460, 210, 115 and 65. If nobody had guessed, the drawer would have scored nothing.

Scores are added when the turn ends, and a turn stops early once every guesser is in.

Where do the hints fit in?

On the 100-second default, the three letter hints land with 75, 50 and 25 seconds left. At those moments a first guess is worth 400, 300 and 200. Waiting for a hint to be sure therefore has a known price: after the first hint, nobody can score more than 400 for that turn, and after the second, no more than 300.

The same shares hold on other clocks. If the host picks 40 seconds, a guess with 16 seconds left is 40 per cent of the clock and scores 260, exactly what 40 seconds left scores on the default. Only the number of seconds changes, never the proportion.

Check the figures in a live game

To see these numbers appear on screen, Boardit's Draw and Guess is a free drawing game online with friends, so you can open a table and watch the scores land after each turn.

The whole lookup in a sentence

A correct guess scores 100 plus 4 a second, trimmed by the order people got there, and the drawer collects the average of the speeds.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Business board game decisions: keep the cash, or buy one more city?

Ahmed Moaz — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 22:31:29 +0000

Every business board game teaches the same hard lesson sooner or later: profit and cash are not the same thing. You can own a great deal and still be unable to pay what is due this week. Property Rush puts that lesson on a board. At some point you will stand on a city you could buy and ask whether to spend the money or keep it. Here is a way to answer that question with numbers instead of nerves.

What is the real size of the bill?

Think of a rival's cities as a running cost. If a rival builds hotels across the whole of one country, every turn you take costs you a share of that rent. In my simulation, the average cost per turn, once hotels stand, is:

Netherlands, 102.76
Germany, 91.42
Japan, 90.50
Canada, 86.74
France, 70.64
Italy, 55.78
Egypt, 38.73
the UAE, 14.72

These add. If two rivals have built the Netherlands and Japan, you pay about 193 a turn on average. On the default purse of 1,500, that is a little over one eighth of your starting cash each time you move.

Does a bare city help your cash flow?

Barely. Abu Dhabi takes 1,434 rival stops to repay itself from bare rent, so for a long while a bare city is an asset that pays almost nothing. Houses are what turn cash into income. This is why I tell people that buying one more bare city and keeping cash for houses are not rivals. The house is the better engine, once you own the country that allows it.

How do you test a purchase?

Use a cushion test. Before you buy, find the worst single visit a rival can make you pay, and ask whether you would still cover it after the purchase.

Here is an invented case, to show the sums. A rival has three houses on every city of Italy. The rents on those cities are 450, 450 and 500, so the worst visit costs 500. You have 620 in hand, and Nice is for sale at 180. Buy it and you hold 440, which is under 500.

How likely is the bad landing? Italy takes 7.0% of stops. The chance of hitting it at least once in your next three turns is about one in five. Boardit leaves that choice to you at the table, and I would call this one a judgement. If Nice finishes a country for you, buy it. If it is a stray bare city, keep the cash.

What happens if you get it wrong?

You do not leave the game. The rent takes your cash below zero, you cannot roll, and you raise money by mortgaging, selling houses or trading. A house sells back at half what you paid. That is the cost of a thin cushion: you turn good assets into cash at a loss, at exactly the moment the rival's rent has already hurt you.

When is owning more the right call?

Three cases pass the test.

The city completes a country for you. A complete country doubles bare rent and lets you build.
The city stops a rival completing theirs. Denial is worth real money.
You are far ahead on cash. A cushion bigger than any visit you face is idle money.

Everything else is a judgement about timing. A small purse, 500, makes cash scarce so every purchase matters. A large one, up to 5,000, lets you own more and still sleep.

What would a good habit look like?

At each purchase, name the worst visit, name your cash after buying, and compare. If cash is higher, buy. If not, ask whether the city earns its place.

Property Rush is an independent Monopoly alternative, and the same habit works in any property trading game you play online with friends. It is a small piece of treasury work, done with a die in your hand, and it carries over to real budgets better than most board game lessons do.

Boardit is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Trivia game online: seven things to check in a free one before you invite anyone

Ahmed Moaz — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 18:30:29 +0000

Picking a trivia game online looks easy, because dozens of them are one search away. The trouble starts when you send the link to six people and the game turns out to need an account, shuts out anyone who misses a question, or asks things nobody can check. Trivia Tavern is the game I made on Boardit, my one-person site, for exactly this evening. These are the seven checks I use, on my own game too.

Does everyone get in without a fuss?

Test the way in first. If each guest has to register, confirm an email and pick a password, half the table will drift away before the first question. In Trivia Tavern a display name is enough to take a seat, and the host's invite is a link. Whatever you choose, open the invite on a phone. Most of your players will use one.

How many people does it seat?

Look for a number, not a vague promise of "multiplayer". My game has between two and eight chairs. That suits a family or a small team playing trivia with friends, and it is why I say the limit out loud before anyone promises a whole office a place.

Can you check an answer afterwards?

A trivia quiz is only fun while people trust it. Disputes about a wrong key can sink the evening. Look for trivia questions that show the right answer and a reason once the clock stops. Each of mine has a source link behind it and a one-line explanation that appears with the reveal.

Here is the kind of thing I mean. Which Greek letter is the last in the alphabet? Omega, the twenty-fourth. The explanation adds that the name means "big o", a later coinage to tell it from omicron, "small o". You can check that on Wikipedia in half a minute, and it hands the table a small story to tell.

Do the questions climb?

A round that opens on a hard question loses the shy players at once. One pub-quiz guide suggests a split of two fifths easy, two fifths medium and one fifth hard, with every round ordered from easiest to hardest. Every round of mine starts gently and ends sharp. If you would rather hold one level, Easy, Medium or Hard can be fixed in the lobby.

Who sets the pace?

HQ Trivia, the live show app, gave everybody 10 seconds, with three answer options, and sent you home on a wrong answer. At its peak, on 28 March 2018, 2.38 million people played at once. That works for a show. It is harsh in a living room, where one slow thumb ends someone's night.

So look for a pace you can change. In my lobby the clock per question runs from ten seconds up to half a minute, and the length of each round and the number of rounds are yours to set.

Does a wrong answer end your night?

This one decides whether people stay. Look for a game that keeps every player in until the end, with a way back for whoever is behind. In mine a wrong answer only costs you the points. The closing round pays twice by default, and an optional final question lets players stake part of their score. The standings stay in view all the way.

Can you try it alone first?

A free game worth recommending lets you rehearse. Mine has a mode called Play on your own, where you pick the subjects and the length. A five-minute run there tells you more than a description does, and it is cheap trivia online practice before the group arrives.

What about time and topics?

A short game gets played again, and a full match of mine takes about 14 minutes. The subjects sit in nine categories, from General knowledge and Geography to Video games. Tick a few, or choose Mixed so each one gets an equal share. That makes a decent trivia night opener for a group that cannot agree.

Boardit's Trivia Tavern is free, and the checks above are the ones I built it to pass. Use the same seven on any other site, and trust the one that holds up.

A last test before you send the link

Play one round yourself. If the first question is fair, the answer is explained, and nobody is out when it ends, send the link.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Ludo rules people argue about, and the answer my table gives to each

Ahmed Moaz — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 10:55:47 +0000

Ludo is a game that invites quarrels. Somebody insists a piece cannot be taken on a star. Somebody else remembers a rule from childhood that nobody else has heard of. Without a rule sheet to hand, the argument goes to whoever talks loudest. I wrote the engine for ludo online, and an engine forces every one of these questions to have exactly one answer. Here are the ludo rules people argue about most, and what my table does in each case.

Do you have to take a capture when you can?

No. If a throw leaves you two or more legal moves, you choose, and nothing in the rules says a capture comes first. You can decline a capture to keep a piece safe, or to bring another piece out.

You must move something, though. If any piece can legally move that many squares, you cannot pass. When exactly one piece can move, the table plays that move for you. When none can, the turn ends.

Can one piece jump over another?

Yes. Nothing on the ludo board blocks the track, and that includes a pair. Two pieces of one colour on a square protect each other from capture, but they do not form a wall. Opponents can walk past them, and can even land on the same square and share it.

Some families play with blockades, where a pair cannot be passed. It is a fair house rule. It also makes a crowded board jam up, and my table does not use it.

Is a piece on a star really untouchable?

Yes, and the same goes for the other safe squares. There are eight in all: the four stars and the four front doors, where each colour's pieces enter. Nobody is taken on any of them, and several colours can stand there at once.

The front door catches people out. If your piece is sitting on an opponent's front door, their six brings a piece out onto the same square and nobody is taken. Eight squares out of 52 is a lot of shelter.

What if the throw is too big for the home straight?

A piece has to reach the centre with an exact count. A too-large throw simply cannot move that piece, so it stays put. If another piece can use the number, you must move that one instead.

There is no bounce and no wasting of a throw by stepping back out. It costs time, though. When a piece stands one to six squares from the end, you wait six throws on average for the number you need, whichever distance it is.

Does the third six cost you the whole turn?

It costs you the throw, but not the moves you already made. Two sixes in a row each earn another throw, and you move normally with both. Then the third six is wasted before any piece moves, and the turn passes. In my calculation that happens in one turn out of every 216.

I kept this rule because it stops a lucky streak from carrying one player round half the board in one turn.

Do a capture and a finished piece earn a bonus throw?

By default they do, along with a six. If the host switches extra throws off, only a six throws again. It is a common house difference, which is why it is a lobby switch and not a fixed rule.

If you use the default, remember that a capture is a bigger event than it looks. You remove a piece and keep the die.

Who settles the argument?

The log. Every throw is written down beside the board, including the sad ones such as a throw where nothing could move. Pointing at the log is faster than a debate, and it keeps the evening friendly. You can check it on Boardit's Ludo, which is free to use.

If you play ludo with friends in person, you can borrow the idea. Agree the answers to these questions before the first throw and write them on a scrap of paper. It takes two minutes and can save an hour.

Pick the answers before you roll

The rules do not need to be mine. What matters is that every player heard them and nodded. A house rule is only a rule if the whole table said yes before anybody could win by it.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Games to play on FaceTime with grandparents: short, gentle and kid-sized

Ahmed Moaz — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 09:54:41 +0000

A call between a child and a grandparent is a lovely thing and a fragile one. The child loses interest after ten minutes, and the grandparent may be wrestling with a tablet. Games to play on FaceTime that suit this situation are short, forgiving and easy to explain in one breath. This guide covers games with no equipment, then a few shared games with settings that keep the pace calm. It is written for the adult in the middle who sets the call up.

Start with the call, not the game

Settle three things before anyone suggests a game. Who holds the device? Prop it up if you can, so small arms are free. Does the grandparent need a link? Apple's support page says anyone can join a FaceTime call from a web browser, including on Android or Windows, so a relative without an iPhone is not locked out. And is there a quiet room? A game fails fast when the grandparent cannot hear the child.

Games that need only voices

These work even when the picture freezes:

I spy, with colours rather than letters for the youngest.
Animal sounds, where one person makes a noise and the other names the animal.
A story told one sentence each, which the child usually steers somewhere surprising.
Twenty questions, shortened to ten for small children.

Which shared games suit a young child and an older relative?

Choose games with no hurry and no reading race.

Snakes and Ladders has 2 to 8 seats and lasts 10 to 25 minutes. Each turn is one throw of the dice, so a five-year-old and an eighty-year-old have the same chances. The host can pick the Ladder Garden board, which has more ladders and so fewer sad slides.

Draw and Guess has up to twelve seats. The child draws and the grandparent guesses, or the other way round. Set the hints to three and the time to 120 seconds, the longest option, and nobody will feel rushed. At the end it shows every drawing from the game, which makes a nice thing to talk about afterwards.

Ludo has a Quick setting: two pieces each and a game of around five minutes. Trivia Tavern races by default, which can hurry a slow reader, but the gentler pace is one tap away.

Where can the family play these together?

That helps a grandparent. Send the link ahead of time in a message so it is waiting when the call starts. Think of it as a small family game night held over a video call, with free online games and no download to slow anyone down.

How long should the call last?

Ten to twenty minutes of a game, then back to ordinary talk. End while the child still wants more. A call that finishes on a high gets repeated, and a call that drags becomes a chore.

What if the grandparent is not confident with technology?

Do a trial run the day before, with just the two adults. Write the steps in short lines: open the message, tap the link, type your name. Keep one voice-only game ready as a fallback, so a failed link does not end the visit.

A weekly habit

Pick the same day and hour each week. Children handle routine well, and grandparents look forward to it. Over a few weeks the games to play on FaceTime stop being an effort and become simply how the two of them spend Sunday.

A last word on patience

Expect pauses, wrong buttons and a game that ends early. None of it matters. The aim is time together, and the game only gives it a shape.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Imposter game words about places: 30 locations that make good clues

Ahmed Moaz — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 19:44:03 +0000

A place is the easiest thing in the world to describe and the hardest to describe without giving it away. That is what makes places such a good category for this kind of game. Everyone knows a market, a ferry or a launderette, and everyone has a different memory of it. These 30 imposter game words about places are picked for that mix of familiarity and surprise.

What makes a place a good word?

A place with a smell, a sound and a routine. A ferry terminal has engines and gulls; a launderette has warmth and a hum. A clue about the sound is true and personal. A clue about the function is safe and obvious. The strongest words allow both, and the table argues about which a clue was.

Around town

launderette
market stall
ferry terminal
bus depot
town hall
car wash
betting shop
roundabout
cash machine
phone box

Leisure and nature

bowling alley
boating lake
allotment
caravan park
observatory
skating rink
beer garden
fairground
ski slope
rock pool

Buildings with a story

clock tower
windmill
castle ruin
lock-up
tollbooth
canal lock
church hall
lighthouse stairs
old cinema
railway footbridge

How do you clue a place?

Use the senses. For "launderette", "warm" or "humming" works. For "ferry terminal", "salt" or "waiting". Avoid the function, because the spy will guess it. And avoid famous landmarks by name, since they identify the word at once.

How does the spy handle a place category?

The spy hears the category and thinks of types: indoor or outdoor, busy or quiet, old or new. The first clue from a civilian narrows these. The risk for a spy is giving a clue that fits only one kind of place. A safe spy says something sensory and general: "busy", "echoey", "bright".

What do civilians do wrong?

They name the activity. If the word is "bowling alley", "pins" is the first clue everyone thinks of. A better clue is the smell of shoes, or the sound of a strike from the next lane. Sensory clues give the spy less and prove more.

How do you play it as a story game?

After the reveal, each player says a memory they have of the place. The table learns how differently the same word lands for people. It is a quiet, warm way to end a round.

How do you add your own places?

Write down ten places from your own neighbourhood, the ones your friends would know: the bakery on the corner, the park with the broken swing, the station café. Local words are the strongest fuel for a spy game online or offline, because every player has a memory of them and nobody outside the group can bluff. Mix them with the list above, and the table will find itself laughing at its own streets.

It also helps to include a few places that are almost the same, like a launderette and a car wash, so the clues overlap and the suspicion grows.

Playing it online and at home

The game deals the words, so you can play who's the spy with a table of three to eight, or twelve around one phone, without preparing anything.

A closing thought

A good place word is a small door into a memory. Use it to let the table in, and give each player a moment after the reveal to say where they last stood in that very place. The stories are better than the scores.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Ancient history trivia questions: Egypt and Rome, 10 with answers

Ahmed Moaz — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 18:25:59 +0000

Ancient history is full of questions with answers that are bigger than the question. Here are ten ancient history trivia questions about Egypt and Rome, from a boy king to the fall of an empire. Use them at a dinner table, or as a round in a trivia quiz online with friends.

The questions

Which boy pharaoh's treasure-filled tomb was found in 1922?
What did ancient Egyptians do to preserve dead bodies?
Which famous queen of Egypt had relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony?
Which Roman leader was stabbed to death on the Ides of March, 44 BC?
Which Roman city was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE?
Which empire built Hadrian's Wall in northern England?
Who led a famous slave revolt against Rome?
Who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922?
Who was the first Roman emperor?
In which year did the Western Roman Empire traditionally fall?

The answers, with a note on each

Tutankhamun. His gold mask weighs about 10 kilograms.
They mummified them. The process could take around 70 days.
Cleopatra. She lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid.
Julius Caesar. He was stabbed 23 times by a group of senators.
Pompeii. It was so well preserved that bread was found still in the ovens.
The Roman Empire. The wall is about 117 kilometres long.
Spartacus. His army may have grown to around 70,000 people.
Howard Carter. Rumours of a curse began when his backer, Lord Carnarvon, died months later.
Augustus. Julius Caesar was a dictator and never an emperor.
476 CE. The last emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus, was a teenager.

How hard is the set?

Questions 1 to 3 are for everyone. Questions 4 to 7 are medium and good for teams. Questions 8 to 10 are hard enough to split a table. A date question like the last is easiest to mark by giving a point to anyone within a century, and a bonus for the exact year.

How do you use it on the night?

Slot this into a longer trivia night as one round among several. A general knowledge round before it and a music round after it make a balanced evening of about an hour.

Why does Cleopatra's note always surprise people?

Because it rearranges time. The pyramids of Giza were already ancient when Cleopatra lived, and the Moon landing is nearer to her than the pyramids were. A quizmaster who puts this in front of a table gets a gasp every time. It is a good reminder that antiquity is not one era but a very long stretch of them.

What follow-up questions work?

Ask who built the Colosseum, which city was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and what the Rosetta Stone says. They are in the same bank, and a table that enjoyed the first ten will cope with these. For a family, ask each person to name a thing from the ancient world they would like to see.

Where can you play it online?

Rounds climb from easy to hard, and the finale counts double.

A word on the sources

Every answer here is tied to a named page, which I re-read on 17 October 2026. Ancient history is a field where stories outrun evidence, so where the bank says 'probably' or 'may have', I have kept those words. A quiz is a good place to be honest about what is known.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Ludo game vs Parchís: Spain's cousin, with a five to leave the nest

Ahmed Moaz — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:09:27 +0000

Put a Ludo board next to a Parchís board and you could take them for twins. Both are cross-shaped, both have four colours and four pieces per player, and both are played with one die. Parchís is the Spanish member of the family, and it is just different enough to be worth knowing. If you enjoy the Ludo game, here is how its Spanish cousin plays.

Where does Parchís come from?

Parchís is a Spanish adaptation of Pachisi, the Indian race game that Ludo also descends from. It is very popular in Spain, and it is also played in other parts of Europe and in northern Morocco. The standard board has 68 spaces. Boards for six players have 102, and for eight players 136.

Which number frees a piece?

In Ludo a six lets a piece out of base. In Parchís it is a five. The pieces wait in the nest, and a five brings one out. That small change shifts the opening: a five and a six are equally likely, so the wait is the same length, but it feels quite different when the number you need is not the one that gives a bonus.

What does a six do instead?

A six in Parchís still gives an extra turn, as in Ludo. There is a twist: if all four of your pawns are already out, a six lets you move seven squares instead of six. It rewards a player who has fully launched their army.

What happens on a capture?

In Ludo, a capture sends the enemy piece back to base and earns you another throw. In Parchís, the captured pawn returns to the nest and the capturing pawn advances twenty squares. A capture is a jump forward, not a repeat throw. A pawn that reaches the finish gives another of your pawns ten squares.

These bonuses make Parchís a game of big swings. The numbers are larger than in Ludo, and a good capture can change the leader.

How are blockades different?

In Parchís, two pawns of the same colour on a square form a blockade that opponents cannot jump over. In Ludo, a pair is protected from capture but does not stop anyone passing. A blockade in Parchís can jam the whole board, and a player who throws a six must open one. It adds a layer of tactics.

What about three sixes?

Both games punish a third six. In Ludo I run, the turn is lost and the third throw is not played. In Parchís, the last moved piece is sent back to the nest. The Spanish rule is harsher.

Which is better for a first game?

I would not rank them. Ludo is simpler: seven short rules, extra throws and safe squares. Parchís has more numbers to remember. A group that loves strategy might prefer it, and a family with young children will find the Ludo game gentler.

Can you play online?

It is a ludo online table for two to four players, so you can play ludo with friends in a browser with no download. The ludo rules are the ones listed above, enforced by the table. I do not offer Parchís, so a family that prefers it will need its own board.

A weekend idea

Try both games on different evenings with the same people. Notice which opening you prefer, and whether you enjoy the big jumps of Parchís or the steady grind of Ludo. The comparison alone makes for a good conversation.

The limit of this comparison

I rely on one encyclopedia page for Parchís. Spanish families may play with local rules, and the source does not cover every variation. Treat the list as a guide to the main differences.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Icebreaker games online for new groups: how to get ten strangers talking in fifteen minutes

Ahmed Moaz — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 11:03:49 +0000

A new group on a call is a room of muted microphones. Nobody wants to speak first, and the host fills the silence with an apology. The cure is an activity that asks nothing personal and gives everyone something to do. These icebreaker games online suit groups from four to twelve, run in a browser and need no accounts for guests. They come from a free site I make, Boardit, so the seat limits and lengths are exact.

What makes a good icebreaker?

It is quick, safe and slightly silly. It does not require anyone to reveal anything about themselves. It gives everybody a role. And it ends before people get bored. A game with a scoreboard also gives the group a shared object to talk about.

Option one: a quiz

Trivia Tavern seats two to eight and takes about fourteen minutes. Everyone answers privately on their own phone, so no one is put on the spot. The reveal of each answer gives the group something to react to. Choose a topic that is neutral, such as geography or food.

Option two: a drawing game

Draw and Guess seats up to twelve and lasts about twenty minutes. Because nobody can draw, everyone is equally embarrassed, and the embarrassment bonds the group. Use a short clock, such as forty seconds, to keep the pace lively.

Option three: a clue game

Who's the Spy takes three to eight players online and about twenty minutes. Players give short clues and vote on who sounded unsure. It is a game about listening, and it introduces each person's voice without asking them to speak at length.

Option four: a race

Snakes and Ladders seats up to eight. It has no decisions, so the quietest person has the same chance as the loudest. A good fallback for a group that is not warming up.

How long should it last?

Fifteen minutes for a first meeting. If the group is enjoying itself, play a second game. If not, stop and move on. A game that ends early is better than one that goes flat.

What does the host do?

Join as a player, not as an organiser. Laugh at your own mistakes. Name each person when they score, so that everyone hears every name. Ask a simple question after the game: what was the funniest moment? The answers start the real conversation.

What if someone refuses to play?

Let them watch, or give them a role, such as scorekeeper. Never push. A person who feels safe will join the next round.

How do you plan for ten people?

Use the drawing game, which seats up to twelve, or split into two tables of five for the quiz and the clue game. Compare scores at the end. Two small tables get more talk than one big one.

Which questions work as warm-ups?

Before the game, ask each person to answer a light question in one sentence: the last film they watched, a food they refuse to eat, a place they would like to visit. Keep answers short, and thank each person by name. The aim is to hear every voice once, so that nobody feels like the first to speak in the game. A group that has spoken once speaks more easily the second time.

After the game, ask what the funniest moment was, and let people reply in the chat if they prefer to type. Some people warm up more easily with a keyboard than a microphone.

Where can you play?

It works in a browser on any device, which suits a new group where nobody has installed anything yet.

Warm rooms start with one game

The goal of an icebreaker is a first shared laugh. After that, the group looks after itself.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

How to run a game night for eight online: logistics, timing and a script for the first five minutes

Ahmed Moaz — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:55:45 +0000

Eight is the largest number that most online games seat, and it is the hardest to run. Eight voices, eight devices and eight different ideas of when the evening should start. A game night for eight needs a little logistics. Here is the plan I would use, with timings based on the real lengths of the games on a free site I make, Boardit.

Two days before

Send the invitation with a start time, a link to the call and a link to the table. Say how long the evening will last, usually ninety minutes. Ask everyone to join five minutes early, and to use a phone or laptop with a charged battery.

One hour before

Open the table yourself and check it works. Try the first game for a minute. Set the rounds and the clock. Close the table, or leave it open and wait.

The first five minutes

A script helps. "Welcome, everyone. We'll start with a quick quiz, about fourteen minutes. Everyone answers on their own phone. After that, a drawing game. Then we'll see how the time goes. Any questions?" Pause for questions. Then start.

Which games for eight?

A quiz seats two to eight and takes about fourteen minutes.
A clue game seats three to eight online and takes about twenty minutes.
Snakes and Ladders seats up to eight and takes ten to twenty-five minutes.
A drawing game seats up to twelve, so eight fits comfortably, and takes about twenty minutes.

Ludo seats only four and a property game six, so they do not fit all eight at once. Run two tables if you want them.

How do you run the timing?

Ninety minutes, three games, two short breaks. The quiz first, because it is the easiest. The drawing game second, because it is the loudest. The clue game last, because it is the most thoughtful. Keep each break to five minutes.

What goes wrong with eight?

Talking over each other. Ask everyone to mute unless they are speaking or guessing. Appoint a deputy to watch the chat and welcome latecomers. And keep an eye on the quietest person: invite them to speak before the group moves on.

What if someone is late?

Start without them. Slot them into the next game. Never restart; the others will not forgive it.

How do you keep score across games?

Three points for a win, two for second, one for third. Write the totals in a shared note. The winner holds a silly title until the next night.

How do you end?

Read the scores, name the strongest moment and fix the date of the next night. Say thanks to the helpers. Close the table, and let people go while they are still laughing.

What should you prepare in advance?

Write a one-page plan: start time, game order, break times and the finish. Keep it open in a note, not on the screen the group sees. Prepare a short rule summary for each game, three sentences at most, ready to paste into the chat. Test the audio on your own device, and keep a second device beside you in case the first one drops. A little preparation makes the host look relaxed, and a relaxed host makes a relaxed table.

How do you handle a dispute?

Decide before the evening who has the last word, and make it the host. Keep disputes brief: hear both sides, rule, move on. When the table applies the rules automatically, there are few disputes to settle. If a player was cut off by a bad connection, give them a replay of that turn where the game allows, or a point of goodwill.

Where can you set it up?

It starts from a link, needs no download and seats the numbers above, so a game night for eight is a few clicks away.

A last piece of advice

Eight is a party, not a seminar. Keep the rules short and the jokes long.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.

Games like skribbl: what they share, and what to look for in a table

Ahmed Moaz — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 10:51:09 +0000

If you have played skribbl, you know the pleasure of it: one person draws, everybody types guesses, the points fly. People search for games like skribbl for a few reasons. The original is popular and often full of strangers. A private room with friends works better. Or they want more control over the rules. Here is what this kind of game shares, and a checklist for picking a good table. I make one of them, Draw and Guess, so I will be open about which choices I made.

What do games like skribbl have in common?

The core loop. One player gets a word, draws it, and the others guess in a chat box. Points reward the fastest guessers, and the pencil passes round the table. A round ends when everyone has guessed or the clock runs out. A game is several rounds, and the player with the most points wins.

On top of that, most add letter hints, a way to pick or add words, and a private room for friends.

What should a good table offer?

A private room that friends can join by link or code.
A choice of drawing time.
A choice of rounds.
Letter hints that fill in as the clock runs.
Custom words, so a group can play its own jokes.
No account for guests.
A table size that fits your group.

How does Draw and Guess handle these?

Two to twelve players, with eight as the default. Drawing time of 40, 60, 80 or 120 seconds. Two, three, five or eight rounds. Zero to three letter hints. A choice of two to five words for the drawer. And you can add your own words. Guests join with a link, with no account.

How are the points worked out?

The well-known game does not publish its formula. I fitted my guess points to finished rounds I could see, so that a fast guess scores about the same. A guess is worth 100 to 500 points, in proportion to the time left, with a share that falls for each earlier correct guess. The drawer is paid from how fast the table read the drawing.

Where I differ is in the drawer's pay: I changed it after players told me the first version paid the drawer too little at larger tables.

Does it need to be a drawing game online?

Yes, in the sense that the whole point is shared screens. A paper version exists, and it is called charades with a pencil, but an online drawing game gives you a chat box for guesses, automatic scoring and a clock, and lets friends in different cities play together. That is what the family of games like skribbl is really offering: a table that fits any distance.

It also means you can keep the sketches. Some groups screenshot the funniest drawings of the night and share them afterwards, which turns an evening into a small collection of private jokes.

What differences matter to a group of friends?

Not the points, but the room. A private table with friends, a set of rules the host picks and words that fit your jokes are what make a game like this feel like yours. The famous game is built for strangers; a friends' table is built for people who know each other.

Which should you choose?

If you want to play with strangers all day, the original is fine. If you want a table for your own group, with its own words and a host who sets the pace, look for something that is built around private rooms.

A short checklist before you invite

Does it open in a browser on a phone?
Can you add your own words?
Is there a time limit per drawing you can change?
Is the room private?
Can all your friends fit?

A final thought

The idea is old and simple, which is why so many versions exist. The right one for your evening is the one that gets everyone laughing in the first five minutes.

Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.