How to Play Snakes and Ladders

Prepare the board, pieces and die

Use a numbered board where ladder bottoms connect upward and snake heads connect downward. Each player chooses a piece and the group chooses a starting order.

Move on each turn

Roll and move that many squares. Land on a ladder bottom to climb; land on a snake head to slide. Passing over one usually does not trigger it unless your edition says otherwise.

Decide the win rule

The first player to the final square wins. Before play, agree whether an exact roll is required and whether multiple pieces may share a square.

• Let overshoots finish for a faster children’s game.
• Reveal any bonus squares before the first turn.
• Luck has a large effect in a short match.

Different from a line ladder

Snakes and Ladders is a turn-based race with a changing route. A line ladder reads one fixed mapping, so the rules are not interchangeable.