Snakes and Ladders

How to play Snakes and Ladders

Snakes and Ladders is one of the best-loved family board games in the world. It is played on a grid of one hundred squares crossed by ladders that carry you upward and snakes that drag you back down. On your turn you simply roll a single die and move your token that many squares. There are no decisions to make and nothing to learn beyond counting — which is exactly why children love it and why a whole family can play together on equal terms. This version lets 2 to 4 people share one screen, and you can fill any empty seats with bots so you can play solo whenever you like.

The goal

The goal could not be simpler: be the first player to reach square 100 at the top of the board. Along the way the ladders give you shortcuts up the grid while the snakes threaten to undo your progress, so the lead can change hands right up to the final roll.

The board

The board is a 10×10 grid numbered 1 to 100 in a back-and-forth "boustrophedon" pattern. Square 1 is in the bottom-left corner; the bottom row runs left to right up to 10, the next row up runs right to left from 11 to 20, and the direction keeps alternating all the way to square 100 in the top-left corner. Some squares are the foot of a ladder (shaded green) and some are the head of a snake (shaded red). Three different board layouts are included, each with its own original arrangement of eight or nine ladders and snakes.

Setting up

Choose how many players will take part (2, 3 or 4) and how many of those seats should be played by a bot. Pick one of the three boards, decide what happens when a roll would take you past 100, and choose whether rolling a 6 earns an extra turn. Every player starts off the board on an imaginary square 0; your first roll brings your token onto the track. Players take their turns in order, and the token colours and animal pieces are assigned automatically.

Rules of play

• On your turn, tap Roll to throw the single six-sided die. Your token then moves forward that many squares along the numbered track, automatically.
• If you finish your move on the foot of a ladder, you immediately climb it to the square at the top — a welcome shortcut toward 100.
• If you finish your move on the head of a snake, you immediately slide down it to the square at its tail, losing much of your hard-won progress.
• Only one snake or ladder is ever taken per turn. If the square you climb or slide to happens to be another ladder foot or snake head, that second one does NOT trigger — you simply wait there for your next turn.
• If the optional "roll again on a 6" rule is switched on, throwing a 6 lets you take another turn immediately. A 6 that wins the game does not grant a bonus roll, because the game is already over.

Reaching 100 (the overshoot rule)

When you are near the top, a roll can "overshoot" square 100. This app offers three ways to handle that, chosen at setup. Bounce back (the default) means you must land exactly on 100: any extra steps are counted back down from the top, so from square 98 a roll of 6 goes 99, 100 and then bounces back to 99, 98, 97, landing on 96 — and any snake or ladder there still applies. Exact means an overshooting roll is simply wasted and your token stays where it is until you roll the right number. Just reach means the first roll that reaches or passes 100 wins outright. Bounce back is the traditional rule and the one we recommend for the tensest finishes.

Winning

The first player to reach square 100 wins immediately and a trophy banner appears. Under the bounce-back and exact rules that means landing on 100 exactly; under the just-reach rule any roll to 100 or beyond will do. Because a single snake near the top can send a leader tumbling, nobody is safe until the winning roll is made. Press New game at any time to change the players, board or rules and start again.

A short history

Snakes and Ladders began in ancient India, where it was known by names such as Moksha Patamu, Gyan Chaupar and Paramapada Sopanam. It was far more than a children’s game: it was a tool for teaching morality. Ladders stood for virtues such as generosity, faith and humility that lift a soul upward, while snakes stood for vices such as anger, theft and pride that drag it back down. The long journey to the final square represented the soul’s progress toward liberation. British colonists carried the game home in the 19th century, and in 1943 it was published in the United States as "Chutes and Ladders". Today it is played all over the world, and its complete reliance on the roll of the die is the whole point — it puts a small child and a grandparent on an exactly equal footing.

Tips (it is still luck!)

• Accept that this is a game of pure chance — there are no moves to plan and no skill to master, which is what makes it so relaxing to play with young children.
• If you enjoy longer, more dramatic games, choose the board with the most snakes together with the bounce-back rule, so that leaders can be dragged back and finishes stay close.
• Playing against bots is a good way to learn the flow of the game or to enjoy a quick solo race; the bots roll exactly as a human would, with no advantage.

Frequently asked questions