Ludomania

Genre: Board Game

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: Included in Party Bundle: Ludomania & Flowlines VS & 2048 Battles, along with 2048 Battles and Flowlines VS. It is also included in 15 in 1 Family Games Mega Collection along with all of the aforementioned games plus Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive, Airborne Grannies, Bubble Cats Rescue, Classic Games Collection Vol. 1, Classic Games Collection Vol. 2, Go! Fish Go!, Go Kart Mania, Jet Ski Rush, Klondike Solitaire, Pet Shop Snacks, Pocket Foosball, and Quick Golf.)

Ludomania (sometimes written as “Ludo Mania”) is a family-friendly Board Game released on Nintendo Switch in 2018. As the name indicates, this is a version of Ludo, AKA Pachisi, AKA Parcheesi. For those unfamiliar with the game, this is a board game where players are trying to have all four of their colored pieces make a circuit around the game board without other players’ pieces landing on them.

The presentation here is pretty good, with clean, colorful 2D visuals and a decent selection of 14 synthesized tunes to play in the background. There’s nothing fancy going on here, but it’s decent all the same.

As for the gameplay… well, this is Ludo, a game that’s over 125 years old at this point, so rating the game itself seems silly at this point. This is a classic “roll and move” board game, and it has withstood the test of time, even if it’s not quite as timeless as a game like chess.

With this being the case, we can at least judge this game on its features, and here Ludomania has quite a lot to offer, with four different game variants – Ludo Classic, Ludo Indian, Parchis, and Mensch ärgere dich nicht (which translates in German to “Man don’t get angry”). The game has instructions but no interactive tutorials, but this is forgivable since Ludo is a pretty simple game that’s easy enough to pick up. The game supports up to four players locally (though not online) with empty slots filled by competent AI players, and both touchscreen and traditional gamepad controls work fine. In addition, one common complaint about the game, the waiting as other players roll, is cut down fairly well by streamlined game design.

In short, while this game doesn’t “elevate” Ludo, this is about as good a version of it as you’re likely to find on Nintendo Switch. I suppose if you have Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, there’s not much need to get this, as that Compilation contains a decent version of Ludo. However, for $4, Ludomania is a pretty solid choice for anyone who just wants a decent version of Ludo on their Nintendo Switch. I’m… not sure exactly who that would be, but if that sounds like you, I think you’ll find this game will be right up your alley.

tl;dr – Ludomania is a version of the classic Board Game Ludo, aka Parcheesi. While this game doesn’t do anything to truly elevate the board game, it has enough features and polish to be well worth the $4 price tag, at least for anyone who doesn’t want to spring for the full $40 to get Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics.

Grade: B-

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