Snakes and Ladders is a classic race where a single die decides almost everything. You roll, count forward, shoot up any ladder you land on and drop down any snake, and whoever gets home first takes the game. You can play Snakes and Ladders unblocked with friends on one screen or against computer players, and since luck does the heavy lifting, a younger brother has the same chance as a math champion. Christopher Müller made it for his open-source PaperGames collection, drawn in crisp black and white.
Setting Up a Match
The setup panel sits above the board. Pick your options, then press New game. The Menu button brings the panel back later.
- Board: the big board has 100 fields in a 10 by 10 grid with eight ladders and eight snakes. The small board has 50 fields in five rows of ten, with four of each.
- Players: two, three or four tokens in total.
- Computer: zero to three of those seats can be computer players. The default is two players with one computer, so you face one opponent.
- Token shapes: each person picks a circle, a square, a triangle or a star. The computers get the shapes that are left.
- Who starts: you, the computer, or random, which is the default.
- Computer moves: wait for a Continue tap after each computer turn, or play them automatically.
- Finish rule: spare pips are lost, or exactly onto the last field.
How to Play Snakes and Ladders
All tokens begin off the board. Your first roll brings you on, so a 4 puts you on field 4. Press Roll and the game counts out the pips and moves your token for you. You never have to drag anything.
The fields run in a snake line. Row one goes left to right from the bottom left corner, row two comes back right to left, and so on up to the top. If you stop exactly on the foot of a ladder, you climb to its top. If you stop on a snake’s head, you slide down to its tail. Passing over a ladder or a snake does nothing. Only the field you finish on counts.
Every roll moves you once, and then the turn passes to the next player. There is no bonus turn for a six. The first token to reach the last field wins, and the game shows the result right away.
A status line above the board says what just happened, such as a climb or a slide and to which field. Below the board, a Last moves table keeps the six most recent turns, showing who rolled, the number, and where the token started and finished.
Where the Ladders and Snakes Are
The board layouts are fixed, so it helps to know a few spots.
On the 100-field board:
- The ladder on field 2 jumps all the way to 23, and the one on 7 reaches 29.
- The longest climb starts on 57 and lands on 83.
- A late ladder on 78 goes to 97, just shy of the finish.
- The worst snake waits on 99 and drops you to 80. Others sit on 26, 38, 49, 61, 74, 85 and 92.
On the 50-field board, ladders start on 3, 9, 20 and 31, and snakes wait on 18, 26, 38 and 47. The ladder on 9 is the big one there, carrying you up to 27.
Picking the Right Finish Rule
The two finish rules change how the end of a game feels.
With spare pips are lost, any roll that would carry you past the last field still counts as reaching it. Games end faster, and a player near the top almost always wins on the next turn or two.
With exactly onto the last field, a roll that is too big leaves your token where it is. On the big board, standing on 98 means only a 2 wins. That gives players further back time to catch up, and it keeps everyone watching until the last roll. One extra wrinkle: you still have to get past the snake on 99.
Tips for a Fun Round
Since the die decides the moves, these tips are about making the game better, not about winning.
- Start little kids on the 50-field board. It is half as tall, so games finish before attention runs out.
- Use the exact finish for a closer ending. Needing the right number keeps the top row tense.
- Keep Continue after a tap with young kids. The pause gives everyone time to follow each computer move.
- Count along with the log. After a long slide, the Last moves table shows the start and end field, which is good adding practice.
- Choose shapes, not colors. Shapes are easier to tell apart when several tokens share one field.
- Switch to automatic for quick solo games. Computer turns then play out by themselves after a short delay.
Device Notes and Saving
The game needs only a click or a tap, so it plays the same on a Chromebook, a laptop, a tablet or a phone. The board scales to the screen and stays easy to read in portrait. A Settings menu lets you choose a larger text size, a high-contrast look and tighter or roomier spacing.
Your current match is saved in the browser on that device. Reload the page or close the tab at the bell, and the game is still there when you come back on the same computer. Your choice of automatic or tap-to-continue computer moves is remembered too. Clearing browser data or switching devices starts fresh.
Why It Works at School
There is nothing to learn beyond rolling a die, so it is a good pick when friends want to share a laptop at lunch. A game on the small board takes a few minutes, and the big board fits a longer break. Because no skill is involved, it also works well as a mixed-age game with younger siblings.
Similar Games on Totally Science
Backgammon is another dice race, but you choose which pieces to move, so strategy matters. Mancala has no dice at all and rewards counting ahead. For a quick two-player game with no luck, try Four in a Row. See the full list on the board and card games page.
