The History of Snakes and Ladders: From Moksha Patam

Snakes and ladders looks like the simplest game there is. But it started as something quite different: a game about how to live a good life, played in India long before it was sold in shops.

Here is the story of how a board about virtue and vice turned into the game everyone knows today.

Moksha Patam: a game about the journey of a soul

The game's origins are usually traced to India, where it was known by names including Moksha Patam and Gyan Chaupar. It was a teaching game as much as an entertainment.

The board was a path from the bottom to the top, and the top represented moksha - liberation. The ladders stood for good qualities, such as generosity, faith and humility. The snakes stood for bad ones, such as anger, greed and pride.

Landing on a good deed lifted you up. Landing on a bad one dragged you down. The message was simple and a little stern: one bad act can undo a great deal of progress.

More snakes than ladders

On many traditional boards, there were more snakes than ladders. That was deliberate. The idea was that the path to a good life is harder than the path away from it, and that falling is easier than climbing.

Board sizes varied too. Some had around seventy squares, others many more, and designs differed between regions and traditions. The one hundred square grid that is now standard came later.

How it came to Britain

Like Ludo, snakes and ladders travelled to Britain in the nineteenth century. It was adapted for the Victorian market, and commercial versions were being sold in England by the late 1800s.

The moral lessons stayed for a while. Early English boards still labelled squares with virtues and vices - a ladder from kindness, a snake from laziness. Over time the labels faded away, and the game became a pure race.

Chutes and Ladders

In the United States, the game became Chutes and Ladders in the 1940s. The snakes were replaced with playground slides, which made the board look less frightening. The rules stayed the same: climb up, slide down, race to the top.

What stayed the same

Across all these versions, the core of the game has never changed.

• A path from bottom to top.
• A die that decides every move.
• Shortcuts that lift you up and hazards that bring you down.
• No decisions to make, so anyone can win.

That last point is the one that matters most today. Because the game is pure luck, a beginner can beat an expert fairly, which makes it one of the easiest board games to pick up.

From board to phone

Online versions keep the same board and the same rules, and they solve the classic problems: nobody miscounts, the snakes and ladders move your token automatically, and friends can play together from different homes.

Snakes and Ladders Jim is one of those versions. You can play with friends in a private room, against other players, against the computer, or on one phone passed around the table.

If you need a refresher on the rules, there is a step by step guide to playing snakes and ladders, including the house rules people argue about.

Frequently asked questions

Where did snakes and ladders come from?

It is usually traced to India, where it was played as Moksha Patam or Gyan Chaupar - a game about virtues and vices. It came to Britain in the nineteenth century.

Who invented snakes and ladders?

No single inventor is known. The game grew out of Indian tradition, where it was played as Moksha Patam and Gyan Chaupar, and boards were drawn by hand, with different squares and lessons from one region to another.

When was snakes and ladders invented?

Nobody knows the exact date. It was played in India for centuries before it reached Britain in the nineteenth century, and commercial versions were on sale in England by the end of the 1800s. The American version, Chutes and Ladders, followed in 1943.

What was snakes and ladders originally called?

Moksha Patam, after moksha, the liberation that the top of the board stood for. Another old name is Gyan Chaupar, the game of knowledge. In India it also has regional names today, such as saap seedi in Hindi and Paramapadam in Tamil.

What did the snakes and ladders mean originally?

Ladders represented good qualities, such as generosity and humility, and snakes represented bad ones, such as anger and greed. Reaching the top meant liberation.

Why are there more snakes than ladders on old boards?

To teach that a good life is harder to achieve than a bad one - falling is easier than climbing.

What is Chutes and Ladders?

The American version of the game, introduced in the 1940s, with slides instead of snakes. The rules are the same.

Is snakes and ladders a game of skill?

No. Every move is decided by the die. That is why anyone can beat anyone, whatever their experience.