Snakes and ladders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
appealing for older players.
[edit] History
The Western form of this game was invented in Victorian England, possibly by John Jaques of Jaques of London and was apparently adapted from the ancient Indian game "Dasapada", dating back to the 2nd century BC. Some game historians dispute this claim however.
The term "Dasapada" is a Sanskrit term and actually refers to a 10×10 square gaming board and in chess is related to a variant of the standard chess game. However, it is difficult to ascertain with any certainty, what connection modern "Snakes and Ladders" has to Dasapadan chess.
[edit] Playing
Each player starts with a token in the starting square (usually the "1" grid square in the bottom left corner, or simply, the imaginary space beside the "1" grid square) and takes turns to roll a single die to move the token by the number of squares indicated by the die roll, following a fixed route marked on the gameboard which usually follows a boustrophedon track from the bottom to the top of the playing area, passing once through every square. If, on completion of this move, they land on the lower-numbered end of the squares with a "ladder", they can move their token up to the higher-numbered square (known as "climbing the ladder"). If they land on the higher-numbered square of a pair with a "snake", they must move their token down to the lower-numbered square (known as "sliding down the snake").
In most versions, a player who rolls a 6 with their die may, after moving, immediately take another turn; otherwise, the play passes to the next player in turn. The winner is the player whose token first reaches the last square of the track.
A variation exists where a player must roll the exact number to reach the final square (hence winning). Depending on the particular variation, if the roll of the die is too large the token remains where it is, or the token may proceed to the final square and then go backwards until it has transversed the same number of squares as the die shows.
[edit] Specific editions
The most widely known edition of Snakes and Ladders in the US is Chutes and Ladders, produced by Milton Bradley (which was purchased by the game's current distributor Hasbro). It is played on a 10×10 board, and players advance their pieces according to a spinner rather than a die. The theme of the board design is playground equipment—children climb ladders to go down chutes (slides). The artwork on the board teaches a morality lesson, the squares on the bottom of the ladders show a child doing a good deed and at the top of the ladder there is an image of the child enjoying the reward. At the top of the chutes there are pictures of children engaging in misbehavior and the images on the bottom show the child suffering the consequences.
The most common in the United Kingdom is Spear's Games' Edition of Snakes and Ladders, played on a 10x10 board where a single die is used.
starting point, which is off the board, to square 100.
