Snakes and ladders

Snakes and ladders is a classic children's board game played between 2 or more players on a playing board with numbered grid squares. On certain squares on the grid are drawn a number of "ladders" connecting two squares together, and a number of "snakes" also connecting squares together.

There is no standard arrangement of the snakes and the ladders - they vary from board to board and are the primary basis of copyrights in commercial editions of the game such as Hasbro's Chutes and Ladders.

Playing

Each player starts with a token in the starting square (usually the "1" grid square in the bottom left corner) and takes turn to roll a single die to move the token by the number of squares indicated by the die roll. If, on completion of this move, they land on the lower-numbered end of the squares with a "ladder", they can move their token up to the higher-numbered square (known as "climbing the ladder"). If they land on the higher-numbered square of a pair with a "snake", they must move their token down to the lower-numbered square (known as "sliding down the snake").

In most versions, if the player rolls a 6 with their die, he or she may roll again, otherwise the play passes to the next player in turn. The winner is the player whose token reaches the last square first.

Snakes and ladders' simplicity and the see-sawing nature of the contest make it popular with younger children, but the lack of any skill component in the game generally makes it generally less interesting for older players.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ABewley/chessboard.html - Sufi Game of the Gnostics
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004030600170300.htm&date=2004/03/06/&prd=yw& - Hindu Snakes and Ladders