Race to 100 and dodge the snakes. Play Snakes & Ladders free with 2 to 4 players on one phone, or vs computer. Roll the die, climb ladders, slide down snakes and be first to 100.
How to play
Everyone starts off the board, below square 1. Take turns rolling the die and move your token that many squares along the numbered path. The path snakes back and forth across the 10 by 10 board, running left to right on the bottom row, right to left on the next, and so on up to square 100. The first player to reach 100 wins.
Tap the die (or tap anywhere, or press Space) to roll. Your token hops forward one square at a time. The die sits on your side of the screen, so it is always obvious whose go it is, and the name panel under the board shows where everyone stands. You can play with 2, 3 or 4 people passing one phone around, or switch any seat after the first to CPU on the setup screen to play vs computer. Computer players roll for themselves after a short pause.
Rules
- There are 8 ladders. If you land exactly on the foot of a ladder, your token climbs to the top.
- There are 8 snakes. If you land exactly on a snake’s head, you slide down to its tail. Passing over a head or a foot does nothing; only where you stop counts.
- Rolling a 6 gives you another turn. There is no limit to how many 6s you can chain.
- You need an exact roll to land on 100. If your roll is too big, you walk up to 100 and then back down by the leftover squares, so 99 plus a 3 sends you to 98. That bounce can land you on a snake’s head, so a long wait near the end is part of the fun.
- The game ends the moment someone lands on 100. Everyone else is ranked by how far along they are, and the end screen lists the order.
- Each token carries its own shape (circle, square, triangle or diamond) as well as its colour, so you can tell players apart even when they share a square. Shared squares show tokens side by side.
Options
- Fast animations speeds up the die, the hops and the slides if you want quick games.
Tips
- There is no strategy in the dice, but you can enjoy the odds: ladders near the start give a big early lead, and the long snakes near the end are the ones to fear.
- Squares with a warm tint are ladder feet and squares with a red tint are snake heads, handy for counting the risk of your next roll.
- Close to the finish, a small roll is often safer than a big one. The game only gives you what the die decides, so keep your fingers crossed.
Why it’s fun
Snakes & Ladders is easy enough for anyone to join, young or old, and a single game rarely lasts more than a few minutes. The tension of a late snake and the joy of a surprise ladder make every game a story you will want to tell, and a rematch is always one tap away.