How to play Lila

1. Getting ready and entering the board

Choose “Begin the journey” or “New game”, select one to four players and enter their names. Each player has their own intention, token, journal and card collection.

Your intention can be a question about something you want to understand. For example: “What would help me take the first step in a new project?” You can also leave it blank and explore the themes as they appear. See how to choose a question for Lila for examples.

You need a six to enter the board. The token moves through square 1 and stops on square 6. Other rolls leave it at the entrance. In a shared game, the next player then takes their turn.

After five unsuccessful attempts to enter, you can keep or change your question. An unsuccessful roll does not say anything about the quality of your question.

2. Taking a turn

1. Roll the die. Your token moves by the number rolled.
2. Read the square’s name, explanation and reflection question. Open the deeper explanation for more context and an optional hint.
3. Write a thought in your journal if you wish. An answer is never required.
4. Save and continue. The game passes the turn to the next player, or gives you an extra roll after a six.

You can select other squares to explore the board. Viewing a square does not move your token or change your roll.

3. Arrows and snakes

An arrow takes your token to a linked higher square; a snake takes it to a lower one. For example, the arrow from square 10 leads to 23, and the snake from 12 leads to 8.

This version has two separate stops: first you explore the starting square, then read the transition explanation and move to its destination. You can make another journal entry there. The game handles the movement for you.

Use the themes as invitations to reflect. Arrows and snakes do not define your character or predict events.

4. Sixes and the edge of the board

A six gives you another roll after you finish the current reflection and any transitions. This includes the six that brought you onto the board.

A third consecutive six returns your token to its position before the series began. You do not get another bonus roll. If the series began at the entrance, you return there.

If your square number plus the roll exceeds 72, you stay where you are. For example, rolling 4 on square 70 does not move the token. No new journal entry is needed. A six still gives an extra roll, except when it is the third consecutive six.

5. Finishing your journey

In this version, you finish by landing exactly on square 68. You can reach it with a normal roll or with the arrow from square 54. Passing over 68 does not finish the journey.

Once you complete your reflection on square 68, your journey ends. Other players continue until everyone has finished.

There is no fixed number of rolls. You can pause and return to a saved game later.

6. Journals, cards and saving

Your journal records your stops and notes. Open it from the top menu and export it as a text file. Players sharing a device can view one another’s notes through the game interface.

You can draw a metaphor card while reflecting on your current square, before entering or saving an answer. Each player has a personal deck of 12 cards. Cards already drawn remain in their collection.

The game saves in this device’s browser storage when available. Switching between English, Spanish and Russian preserves the game state; your personal writing is not translated.

Starting a new game replaces the current one. Export your journal first if you want to keep it. Clearing site data can also remove a saved game. There is no automatic synchronization between devices.

Common questions

Can I play without a facilitator?

Yes. The game handles movement and provides explanations. You decide how to interpret the questions and what to write.

Do I need to sign up or pay?

No registration or payment is required to play on lilagame.app.

Can friends join from different devices?

This version supports a shared game on one device. It has no online rooms or synchronized turns across devices.

Do I need to enable analytics?

No. The game works with analytics turned off. You can change your choice at the bottom of the page.

Where do these rules come from?

This guide describes the rules implemented on lilagame.app. It does not describe every version of Lila. If the guide and the game disagree, that is an error to correct.