The classic race to square 100 for 2 to 4 players. Play with friends on one screen or against the computer, roll the animated dice, climb the ladders and try to dodge the snakes.
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Winner!
Press Space or R to roll when it is your turn. Ladders carry you up, snakes slide you down.
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How to use the Snakes and Ladders
Choose the players. Pick 2, 3 or 4 players, type names and set each one to Human or Computer.
Pick the rules and board. Choose how the finish works, whether a 6 gives another turn, and the classic or a random board.
Press Start game, then Roll dice (or press Space) on your turn. Your token moves the number of squares rolled.
Ladders and snakes: land at the bottom of a ladder to climb it; land on a snake's head to slide down to its tail.
Reach square 100 first to win. The win screen ranks everyone by how far they got.
Classic board layout
The classic board uses the layout made popular by mid-20th-century editions of the game, with 9 ladders and 10 snakes. The biggest ladder runs from 28 to 84; the longest snake drops from 87 to 24.
Ladders (bottom → top)
Snakes (head → tail)
1 → 38, 4 → 14, 9 → 31
16 → 6, 47 → 26, 49 → 11
21 → 42, 28 → 84, 36 → 44
56 → 53, 62 → 19, 64 → 60
51 → 67, 71 → 91, 80 → 100
87 → 24, 93 → 73, 95 → 75, 98 → 78
A short history
Snakes and Ladders comes from ancient India, where versions called Moksha Patam or Gyan Chaupar were used to teach that good deeds (ladders) lead upward and bad deeds (snakes) lead down. It reached Britain in the late 19th century and was sold in the United States as Chutes and Ladders from 1943. Because the outcome depends only on the dice, it is often a child's first board game and a gentle way to practice counting and taking turns.
House rules you can choose
Bounce back (default): if your roll goes past 100, count up to 100 and then back down with the remaining points.
Stay put: if your roll goes past 100, you do not move this turn.
Any roll wins: the quickest game; reaching or passing 100 wins.
Six again: a 6 gives another roll, but three 6s in a row ends your turn.
Frequently asked questions
What are the rules of Snakes and Ladders?
Players take turns rolling one die and moving their token forward that many squares, following the numbers from 1 to 100. Landing on the foot of a ladder moves you up to its top; landing on a snake's head moves you down to its tail. The first player to reach square 100 wins.
Do you need an exact roll to finish?
It depends on the house rules, so you can choose. With bounce back, extra points move you backward from 100 (on 97, a roll of 5 takes you to 98). With stay put, you only move if the roll is not too big. Or you can let any roll that reaches 100 win.
Does rolling a 6 give another turn?
In many families it does, so it is on by default here. If someone rolls three 6s in a row, the turn passes to the next player. You can switch the rule off before starting.
How long does a game take?
With the classic board, a 2-player game usually lasts a few dozen rolls per player, though a run of snakes can make it much longer. The game is pure luck: no choice you make changes the outcome, which is why it is great for young children.
Is it the same as Chutes and Ladders?
Yes. Chutes and Ladders is the American name for the same game, with slides (chutes) instead of snakes. The original came from ancient India, where it was called Moksha Patam.
What does the random board option do?
It creates a new layout with 8 ladders and 9 snakes. Ladders and snakes never share a square, every ladder goes up at least one row, every snake goes down at least one row, and there are no impossible walls of snake heads.
Can the computer cheat?
No. Every roll for every player, including the computer, uses the same random die. The computer simply rolls for itself automatically.
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