Snakes and Ladders: rules, history and tips for kids

Snakes and ladders is a race board game for children with roots in ancient India, where a version called Moksha Patam was used to teach ideas about good and bad actions. Ladders carried players up as a reward for good deeds, while snakes brought them down for bad ones. The game reached Britain in the nineteenth century and then spread everywhere; in Iran it is known as "mar o pelleh". The modern board usually has one hundred numbered squares in a zigzag path. Players roll a die and move up the board, climbing ladders and sliding down snakes. It is purely a game of chance, which makes it fair for every age, and it is often one of the first board games children play.

How to play Snakes and Ladders

All players place their tokens before square one. Players take turns rolling a single die and moving their token forward by the number shown, following the numbered path from left to right on one row, then right to left on the next. If a token ends its move at the bottom of a ladder, it climbs to the square at the top of the ladder. If it ends its move on the head of a snake, it slides down to the square at the snake's tail. Only the exact end of a move counts; passing over a snake or ladder has no effect. Many families play that rolling a six gives an extra roll. To win, a player must reach square one hundred. In the common rule, you need the exact number to land on one hundred; if the roll is too high, you stay in place or count back the extra squares.

Tips for new players

• Let children count the squares aloud as they move to practise numbers.
• Agree before playing whether you need an exact roll to finish.
• For very young players, use a smaller board or remove a few long snakes.
• Make it a learning game by asking a simple question on each ladder.