Print out the game board. Prepare chips for the number of players and a cube.
The rules are very simple and accessible for preschoolers.
- Before the game starts, the chips are placed in front of the playing field. The order is determined by lot. Players take turns throwing the game dice and, according to the numbers that fall out, move their chips to the corresponding number of cells on the field. The goal of the game is to be the first to reach the finish line - cell number 100.
- If the chip stops on a cell with a ladder, the player moves the chip up to the end of the ladder. If the chip stops on a cell with a snake’s head, the chip goes down to the tail.
The Indian game was originally intended for religious gaming activities. Older generation while playing with the children and explained to them basic principles Jain religion. Good behavior and righteous deeds are ladders leading up and wrong behavior is snakes leading down. Nowadays, it is already difficult to attract this game to religion, but nevertheless, many gaming companies continue to release this board because simple rules and a beautiful, original playing field.
Playing field
The game is intended only for home use. Copying and duplicating the playing field on the Internet is prohibited! 
Similar games:
- a logical and strategic game for children. One might say - a classic of board games.
- common in Europe family game. Often sold in online souvenir shops.
The original title in English is Snakes and Ladders.
This is an interesting ancient Indian game; it was originally intended for religious gaming activities. The older generation, playing with the children, explained to them the basic principles of the Jain religion. Good behavior and righteous deeds are ladders that lead up, wrong behavior is snakes that lead down.
Nowadays, this game has little to do with religion; it has become famous and beloved. The rules are simple, the playing field is interesting, and is recommended for children of all ages.
Even SpongeBob in the cartoon he plays this game. :-)
Rules of the game "Snakes and Ladders"
The essence of the game is very simple and understandable even to younger children (despite the fact that adults also play this game with great interest!!).
Players take turns rolling the dice and moving a certain number of squares. Some squares of the field are ordinary, squares with ladders and snakes move the player's piece to another square. The player who reaches the finish line first wins.
Before the game starts, the chips are placed in front of the playing field. The order of the move is determined by lot. Then the players take turns throwing the dice and, according to the numbers that appear, move their chips to the corresponding number of cells on the field. The goal of the game is to be the first to reach the finish line - cell number 100.
If the chip stops on a cell with a ladder, the player moves the chip up to the end of the ladder. If the chip stops on a cell with a snake's head, the chip goes down to the very tip of the tail.
Outwardly it is very similar to the ancient Indian game Leela. Also famous, many have probably heard of it. But there the rules are more complicated, and a whole treatise has been written on the game. In Snakes and Ladders everything is simpler, but no less exciting!
What options are sold?
"Snakes and Ladders" for the street.
The playing field consists of 9 parts. Turn it over and you can play tic-tac-toe! Includes: dice and foam chips.
Game 2 in 1 "Snakes and Ladders - Tablut"
This is completely inexpensive option. "Snakes and Ladders" is board game for 2 or more people. I now have this set.
"Tablut" is a popular Scandinavian game that was brought into society in the 18th century. Playing field - square board 9x9. The white player has a king and his eight guards, the black player has a squad of sixteen mercenaries. In the initial position, the king stands on the central square of the board (throne). The king's guards are positioned on four sides around the king, and enemy mercenaries occupy designated areas. The white player's goal is to reach any edge of the board with his king. The black player tries to capture the white king.
The set includes:
for the game Snakes and Ladders: playing field, colored player pieces, 2 dice;
for the game Tablut: playing field, 16 black chips, 8 white chips, king.
"105 Best Games for the Whole Family"
Box with different games right away, “Snakes and Ladders” is also there. Can buy.
This magic box will take its rightful place in your home. It has everything for the whole family to play 105 best games of all times and peoples.
The kit includes:
1. Set playing cards
2. Dice
3. Playing chips
4. Set of checkers
6. Checkers field
7. Field "Mill"
8. Field "Chinese"
9. Field "Fox and Geese"
10. Field "Halma"
11. Field "Trilma"
12. Field "Ladders and Snakes"
13. Field "Tablut"
14. Field "Horses"
15. Field "Goose"
16. Field "Tiko"
17. Backgammon field
18. Brochure with rules.
Package: cardboard box.
Production: Republic of Belarus.
And there is a more expensive box (apparently of better quality) - 100 best games, too.
This magic box will take its rightful place in your home. It has everything you need to play the 100 best games of all time with the whole family.
The kit includes:
1. A set of playing cards.
2. Domino set.
3. Dice.
4. Playing chips.
5. Set of checkers.
6. Checkers field.
7. Field "Mill".
8. Field "Chinese".
9. Field "Fox and geese".
10. Field "Halma".
11. Field "Trilma".
12. Field "Ladders and Snakes".
13. Field "Tablut".
14. Field "Horses".
15. Field "Goose".
16. Brochure with rules.
The entertaining game “Snakes and Ladders” will allow you to pass the time pleasantly, using only a cube and hoping for luck.
There are several options for passing, in the first case, on the playing field, divided into cells marked with specific numbers, there are stairs that raise and lower players in accordance with the number rolled on the die. There are also snakes, which you will have to go back to if you come across them. In the second case, there are no snakes, but there are stairs and slides, the principle of their operation is similar.
Choose the desired number of opponents, remembering that the more there are, the more exciting the competition in who gets to the finish line first.
Showcase your own luck by rolling numbers on the dice that can bring you victory over your opponents.
How to play?
Decide which mode you want to play in, as well as your preferred number of enemy pieces or characters.
If you prefer the first option, then choose a chip of a specific color that impresses you the most.
You will always start going first, so don’t hesitate, roll the dice right away. As soon as a specific number appears, it means the number of steps that need to be taken across the cells of the playing field.
Ladders allow you to both bring the player closer to victory and further away, while snakes only send you back, reducing the chances of becoming a winner.
The second version of the passage is similar to the previous one, but here it is already possible to select a specific character from the list. There are also ladders, but there are no snakes, instead there are slides that repeat the principle of the ladders.
In all modes, players are displayed at the top left of the screen in a sequence determined by the progress made during the game. Whoever is in the lead will take first place, and the rest will distribute second, third, etc. among themselves.
If the number is rolled successfully, a bonus may appear that allows you to make an additional roll.
text: Dmitry Skiryuk
In the history of mankind, it happens that a thing that was created exclusively for children goes to adults, and vice versa - a typically adult, serious thing over time becomes nothing more than children's entertainment. Literature knows many such examples: “Robinson Crusoe” by Defoe, “Gulliver’s Travels” by Swift, “The Exploits of Baron Munchausen” by Raspe... All these books were written by adults for adults, it could be an edifying novel, a political pamphlet, a friendly cartoon, but centuries passed - and It’s only now that children start reading about “the adventures of the sailor from York”; little people are called Lilliputians, and liars are called “Munchausens”.
Games in this sense are no exception. I want to tell you about one of these today. We all played it when we were little, but we didn’t think about how and where it originated: we were worried about completely different thoughts. And then we grew up, we had no time for that - life presents more severe games and riddles. But now that our own children are growing up, there is a good reason, as the parrot from the cartoon said, to “get to know each other again.”
I guarantee that many of you have never even heard the name of this: “Snakes-Ladders,” but if you start to describe it, everyone will remember a field with a numbered curved path lined with arrows, where the blue ones lead up and the red ones lead back. In any country, such games are printed in thousands of copies, they come in a wide variety of themes: fairy tales, cartoons, space adventures, circus, biblical motifs (games with revolutionary themes were popular in the USSR), but they are based on the same “Snakes and Ladders” - "Snakes-Ladders".
This game originated in the 16th century in India under the name “Paramapada Sopanam” (“Stairway to Salvation”). In the homeland of elephants there are many similar games - cross-shaped “pachisi”, square “thaayam” and “saturankam”, etc. “Snakes-Ladders” is the simplest of them, with a linear, not confusing, but very long path. There are exactly one hundred squares on a 10x10 board (there are other options, but “one hundred” is considered the classic one). Each player has only one piece, and the moves are determined by the dice.
The rules are:
* Players take turns throwing the dice and moving the chip forward according to the number of points rolled.
* “Ladders” help progress. If a piece stands at the foot of the “ladder”, it immediately rises to the top.
* “Snakes” throw the chip back: standing on the “head” of the snake, the chip immediately rolls down to its “tail”.
* If a chip catches up with another and stands on the same square, the first one is considered cut down and goes to cell No. 1, starting from the beginning.
* If a player rolls a six, he gets an extra roll.
* An accurate throw is required to exit the board. If a player does not roll the required number, his chip reaches the finish line - and moves back the remaining number of points.
* The first one to reach the hundredth square wins.
In general, that's all.
High morale on the field
The game would be extremely simple (and boring) if it weren't for the field:
“Moksha Patam,” as it is now called in its historical homeland, is not so much an educational game as a moralizing one. Like most ancient games, “Snakes and Ladders” was invented for adults: it was a manual for the religious education of neophytes. Virtues and vices were depicted on significant squares of the board. According to Hindu beliefs, good and evil coexist in a person, but only good deeds (“ladders”) will help a person achieve salvation (moksha) through a series of incarnations until complete perfection. Snakes symbolized reincarnation into lower, animal forms.
Initially, there were 12 “vices” on the field and only 5 “virtues”: faith (12), responsibility (51), generosity (57), knowledge (76) and asceticism (78).
As for the vices, their list was as follows: obstinacy (41), vanity (44), vulgarity (49), theft (52), idleness (58), drunkenness (62), debt (69), anger (84), stinginess (92), pride (95), murder (73), lust (99).
English colonists brought the oriental curiosity to Britain, where it quickly took root as “Snakes and Ladders,” and then to America, already as “Chutes and Ladders,” and the Protestant tradition adapted it to Victorian ideals. Because the dice At that time, they were considered a gambling item; children used a special pinwheel with an arrow and numbers. Parents willingly bought these games so that their children could learn history, geography, zoology and morality, and here is the result: for more than a hundred years, Snakes and Ladders has been the favorite board game of British children.
Today, the classic version has 19 “snakes” and 19 “ladders”. Their location is by no means chaotic, as it might seem at first glance. After the rush at the start, where the especially lucky ones climb 2-3 lines up, a period of relative calm awaits the players. There are not so many truly dangerous areas. You can download any field you like on the Internet - there are many of them, or you can draw it yourself (just don’t draw the snakes too scary).
And as chips - you won’t believe it - anything will do, as long as it fits on the square and doesn’t stick to your hands and the board.
The name “Snakes-Ladders” has long become a household name. Gerry Rafferty, Nazareth and other artists called their records that way. “What a life - all Snakes and Ladders!” - people in Western countries often complain, and there’s nothing to be done about it. These simple tablets contain age-old wisdom. Failure is followed by success - and vice versa, but two principles really struggle in a person, and it does not matter at all what they are called. In India, this was understood a long time ago, which is why this game is often called simply “Leela”, which means “Life”.
In addition to the moral aspects, “Ladder Snakes” has one more remarkable property: it is multiplayer. What may seem like a disadvantage (one chip per player, complete dependence on luck - and no work of thought) has its advantages: “Snakes and Ladders” can be played by at least ten people at once, it does not require serious attention, and age does not matter meaning: it is enough for the smallest players that they learn to count, read, and also, as the song says, “to love good books and to be educated.” For 400 years this game, while entertaining, educates. Can you ask for more?
True, it used to be adult game. Well, humanity once had a childhood.
Snakes do not need ladders; they crawl just fine without them. But they will come in handy for you to be the first to get to the coveted cell number 100. Roll the dice, rearrange the chip and see where you end up. If on the stairs, feel free to climb higher, jumping over several cells at once. But if you come across a cell on which the snake’s head is located, you will have to slide down to its tail.
Your lucky number is six
If the die shows a six, that’s very good: you have the right to take a second turn. The only thing is that the lucky person who managed to throw six three times in a row comes back.
It won't be possible to go further
To win, you need to clearly reach cell number 100. That is, throw exact amount the steps you need to win. If, for example, you roll a 5 and you are standing on spaces 97, this is a re-roll. And, again, you will have to go backwards, not forwards. So who will be the winner in this game is not clear until the last moment!
Hey, she's just childish!
For an adult, this game looks too simple: roll the dice and move. But for very young children this is a most exciting activity. And very useful, by the way: they learn to count from one to one hundred, concentration and patience. Any teacher will tell you that Snakes and Ladders is great for keeping kids occupied. small company small, very active and noisy children.
What else is good about this game?
- Compactness: The box easily fits even into an elegant handbag. What can we say about the suitcase!
- Convenience: The iron field and magnetic chips make the game an indispensable travel companion. Even if the train brakes sharply, the position on the playing field will remain unchanged.
Legend for the curious
The game “Snakes and Ladders” came from Ancient India, where it was called “Leela” and was played not just for fun, but with a special meaning attached to the movement of chips. It's simple: snakes represent a fall, bad deeds, and ladders represent righteous thoughts and deeds. Who will reach the “sky” faster?
