Snakes and Ladders
It is common11 In Sweden, at least. for promotional pamphlets aimed at<br>children to contain a themed variant of snakes and ladders. This is the “game”<br>where the players toss a die, move as many places as the die says, and then some<br>spots on the board have an event that send the player forward, or back, or give<br>them an extra toss or whatever.
The theme is typically related to whatever the promoter wants to promote, but<br>styled for children. I get the appeal – for children. They can probably imagine<br>they’re really travelling along the path! In the variant pictured below, there’s<br>forest and water and tunnels and dogs and everything!
But as a game, it sucks. For everyone. My children hate losing, and these<br>games have n−1 losers for every n players. There are also literally zero<br>decisions for the players to make, so I cannot make it through even a few turns<br>without zoning out.
Here’s how to make it slightly better. I haven’t analysed this for fairness,<br>but it’s a good start. And it works for basically any promotional snakes and<br>ladders board.
Rules for cooperative snakes and ladders
Each player has a pawn, starting at the starting point of the board. If all<br>pawns get to the finish, the group has collectively won the game. If any player
Lands on a snake head (a spot with a “bad” event, such as move backwards, skip<br>a turn, etc.); or
Ends up separated from any other player by more than five22 I haven’t spent<br>a lot of time tweaking this number, but it should be in the right ballpark.<br>spots
the group loses. That’s winning and losing.
Movement is not done with a die. Instead, six playing cards (ace to six) are<br>placed face up on the table. Before a player moves, the team discusses which<br>card they should use. When a card is selected, that card is flipped back-side up<br>(to indicate that it has been used) and the player moves that many positions.<br>The next player then gets to choose a card, with the previously used card<br>unavailable for selection.
After a short while, one player will get a forced move, because there is only<br>one face up card remaining. But since the players have discussed which cards to<br>use in which order, hopefully that forced move is still good! After that move,<br>all six cards are back-side up, and then they are all turned face up again and<br>become available for selection for the next player.
This is an easy game. With a typical promotional snakes and ladders board, the<br>team does not need much foresight to maintain cohesion, avoid snakes, and make<br>it to the finish. But it still gives a veneer of decision-making to the<br>participating adult, meaning it is slightly easier to stay engaged than a game<br>that doesn’t even pretend to give the players any choice. And it’s still just<br>as fun for children, if not more so, because now it’s a goal to stay together!
Optional extension: player roles
I haven’t tested it as much as the previous base game, but here is how the game<br>can be made easier, yet more varied. At the start, players pick one role each.<br>The roles come with a special ability, which can be used once per game, at any<br>point during that player’s turn.
The names for these roles are highly provisional.
The pusher’s special ability is to move any pawn on the board, rather than<br>their own. This ability replaces the pusher’s ordinary movement, and thus must<br>be used before they move.
The sprinter’s special ability is to draw an extra movement card after they<br>have moved. Their moves are executed sequentially, meaning they cannot be<br>added together to skip over a snake.
The banker’s special ability is that they can reset all movement cards to be<br>face-up after they have moved, giving the next player the ability to choose<br>between all cards. This ability is activated only after the banker has<br>moved, meaning they cannot use it to increase their own options. When the<br>banker resets the cards, that cancels any immunity put in place by the<br>insurer. (See below.)
The anchor’s special ability is to skip their turn, meaning they don’t<br>remove a choice of movement card for the next person, and also don’t get too<br>far ahead of the rest of the players.
The cartographer’s special ability is reusing any already-used (back-side<br>up) movement card. This card will be used for their ordinary movement, meaning<br>the ability must be used before they move.
The duplicator’s special ability is doubling the value of their movement<br>card, executed as one move. In other words, this can be used to skip over a<br>snake. This doubling happens as part of their ordinary movement, meaning the<br>ability must be used before they move.
The insurer’s special ability is declaring a snake safe. This immunity<br>affects all players and lasts from when it is declared until the next time the<br>movement cards reset. If the insurer uses this ability to survive a forced<br>move (only one card...