How to Play Snakes and Ladders

Snakes and Ladders

A worldwide classic board game! Navigate your piece from start to finish, avoid the snakes, and take shortcuts going up the ladders. The origins of this game are found in ancient India were it was known as ‘Moksha-Patamu.' A player moving up the board represented life's spiritual journey, complicated by virtues - the ladders, and vices - the snakes.

Equipment

Snakes and Ladders board
1 die
Playing pieces

Setup

Before the game can start each player will roll one die, the player who throws the highest number will be the one to have the first turn.

Gameplay

The players will move their pieces from left to right, starting at 1, following the numbers on the board, then the next row from right to left and repeat. If a player rolls a 4, then the player would move their piece four places.

Player rolls a 4 and moved the blue playing piece four places starting at 1.

Snakes

When a player lands on a top of a snake, their playing piece will slide down to the bottom of the snake.

Blue playing piece lands on top of a snake; thus, it will need to slide down to the bottom of the snake.

Whereas landing on the bottom of a snake the player will remain in the same spot until their next turn.

Blue playing piece lands at the bottom of a snake and will remain there until the next turn.

Ladders

When a player lands at the base of a ladder, it immediately climbs to the top of the ladder.

Blue playing piece lands at the base of a ladder and climbs to the top.

Whereas landing at the top of a ladder the player will stay there until the next turn. The player does not move to the bottom of the ladder.

Blue playing piece lands at the bottom of a ladder and remains there until the next turn. It does not move to the bottom of the ladder.

Whereas landing at the top of a ladder the player will stay there until the next turn. The player does not move to the bottom of the ladder.

Winning the Game

The first player that reaches the highest space on the board, 100, wins the game. To win the player will need to roll the exact number to get you to the last space. If the player rolls a higher number than needed to land exactly on 100, their piece does not move and remains there until their next turn, when they can roll again.

Blue playing piece reaches the highest space on the board, 100, and wins the game.

The Bounce Back Variation

The first player that reaches the highest space on the board, 100, wins the game. To win the player will need to roll the exact number to get to the last space. If the roll is too high, the player's piece will bounce off the last space and move back. For example, if a player had four spaces to get to 100 and rolled a 6, the piece will move four spaces to 100, then “bounce back" two spaces to 98.

Bounce back variation - Blue playing piece had four spaces to get to 100 and rolled a 6. The piece moved four spaces to 100, then bounced back two spaces to 98.