Chutes and Ladders vs Snakes and Ladders: What Is the Difference?

If you learned the game in the United States, you probably call it Chutes and Ladders. Almost everywhere else, including India, where the game began, it is snakes and ladders.

The short answer is that they are the same game. Here is what is actually different, which one came first, and how one game ended up with two names.

The short answer

Chutes and Ladders is the American version of snakes and ladders. The goal is the same: race from the first square to square 100. The ladders work the same way, and the chutes do exactly what the snakes do. If you can play one, you can play the other without learning anything new.

The differences are the name, the pictures on the board and, in the classic American game, a spinner instead of a die.

The differences at a glance

• The name. Chutes and Ladders is the name used in the United States. Snakes and ladders is the name in Britain, India, Canada, Australia and most of the world.
• The hazards. Chutes are playground slides. Snakes are snakes. Both send you back down the board.
• The numbers. The classic Chutes and Ladders game comes with a spinner numbered one to six. Snakes and ladders uses an ordinary die. Either way you move one to six squares, with the same chance of each number.
• The pictures. Chutes and Ladders shows a small scene at each ladder and chute: a good deed at the foot of a ladder with its reward at the top, and a bit of mischief at the top of a chute with its result at the bottom. Most snakes and ladders boards are just numbered squares with the snakes and ladders drawn over them.
• The age. Snakes and ladders goes back centuries. Chutes and Ladders dates from 1943.

The board is the same idea in both: one hundred squares in a ten by ten grid, numbered in a zigzag from the bottom row to the top. Where the ladders and hazards sit changes from one board to another, in both games.

Where snakes and ladders came from

The game started in India, where it was known as Moksha Patam and Gyan Chaupar. It was a teaching game. The ladders stood for virtues such as generosity and humility, the snakes stood for vices such as anger and greed, and the top of the board stood for moksha, or liberation.

Old Indian boards often had more snakes than ladders, to make the point that a good life is harder to reach than a bad one. The game reached England in the late 1800s and was sold there as snakes and ladders. Over time the virtues and vices faded from the board, and it became a simple race.

There is a full history of snakes and ladders if you want the whole story.

How it became Chutes and Ladders

In 1943 the American games company Milton Bradley published its own version and called it Chutes and Ladders. The snakes were replaced with playground chutes, a friendlier picture than a snake. The illustrations kept the old moral idea, but as everyday scenes of good deeds and mischief rather than virtues and vices.

The rules were left alone. Anyone who knew snakes and ladders could sit down at a Chutes and Ladders board and play straight away, and that is still true today.

Are the rules different?

No. In both games:

• Every player starts off the board, before square one.
• On your turn you roll or spin and move forward that many squares.
• Land at the foot of a ladder and you climb it.
• Land at the top of a chute, or on a snake's head, and you slide down.
• Players can share a square, and nobody can be captured.
• The first player to reach square 100 wins.

The one rule that varies is the finish. Some groups need the exact number to land on 100, and some let any roll that reaches it win. People play it both ways in both games, so agree on it before you start.

Is one game harder than the other?

No. Neither game has any decisions in it, so neither can be harder to play. Every move comes from the die or the spinner.

What changes the length of a game is the board: how many hazards there are, how long they are and where they sit. A board with long snakes near the top makes for longer games and more comebacks, whatever the hazards are called.

What the game is called in India

India never needed a new theme for the game; it kept its own names. In Hindi it is Saap Seedi (साँप सीढ़ी), in Tamil it is Parama Padam, and in Telugu it is Vaikunthapali or Paramapada Sopanam. The rules are the same everywhere.

Play the classic online

Snakes and Ladders Jim is a free online version of the traditional game, with snakes, ladders and a one hundred square board. Play with two to four players in a private room, against other players online, against the computer, or on one shared device.

The rules are the ones above, so if you grew up with Chutes and Ladders, you already know how to play.

Chutes and Ladders is a trademark of Hasbro. Gamejim is not connected with Hasbro, and Snakes and Ladders Jim is the traditional game of snakes and ladders, not the Chutes and Ladders board game.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chutes and Ladders the same as snakes and ladders?

Yes. Chutes and Ladders is the American version of snakes and ladders. The rules and the goal are the same; the snakes are replaced with chutes, and the classic game uses a spinner instead of a die.

Why is it called Chutes and Ladders in America?

When Milton Bradley published the game in the United States in 1943, it replaced the snakes with playground chutes, a friendlier picture, and named the game after them.

Which came first, Chutes and Ladders or snakes and ladders?

Snakes and ladders. It began in India centuries ago as Moksha Patam and reached England in the late 1800s. Chutes and Ladders followed in 1943.

Does Chutes and Ladders use dice?

The classic game uses a spinner numbered one to six instead of a die. It does the same job, so a normal die, or a dice roller on your phone, works fine if the spinner goes missing.

Can I play snakes and ladders online for free?

Yes. Snakes and Ladders Jim is free to play in your browser, with no download. Play with friends in a private room, against the computer or on one phone.