Snakes and Ladders
Setup
Snakes and Ladders is a worldwide classic strategy board game. The origins of this game are found in ancient India where it was known as ‘Moksha-Pata.’ A player moving up the board represented life’s spiritual journey, complicated by virtues – the ladders, and vices – the snakes.
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.
Objective
The Goal of the game is to reach the final square from the starting square on the board before any other player.
Number of Players
2 to 6 Players
Game Play
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. The pieces of different players can overlap each other without knocking out anyone. There is no concept of knocking out by opponent players in Snakes and Ladders.
Snakes
When a player lands on a top of a snake, their playing piece will 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.
Ladders
When a player lands at the base of a ladder, it immediately climbs to the top of the ladder. The player earns an extra turn when landing at the base of the ladder. When a player lands at the top of a ladder, the player will stay there until the next turn.
Winning 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.
