Up and down, up and down! (Hamleys Snakes and Ladders)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Hamleys Snakes and Ladders
Date:	21/10/08 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple yet fun

Disadvantages: Can get repetitive

Snakes and Ladders is a timeless game that will be played by children (mainly) for years to come as it has been played by generations before us. A game originally concieved in the 1800s, although I am sure it was probably played in some format before then, Snakes and Ladders can be played by 2 or more players, and all it requires is the board and a die or dice.

The game is purely luck orientated, and so does not rely on being really good at games in general. The board consists of 10 x 10 squares, each numbered 1 to 100. Each player starts on 1, and the first person rolls the die and moves the corresponding number of spaces. At random board spaces, they will be either a ladder, which can lead you up to a higher row of numbers, thus jumping ahead, or a snake, which will slither you down a number of rows, thus making you go back. The winner is the first person to get to 100.

The clever thing about this game is that it is never over until the very end. There generally tends to be a snake or two in the last five or six numbers before the end, so as to make the game potentially last a little longer by increasing the chances of landing on a snake. As such, even if you are having a diabolical game and are floundering way behind and with your opponent in the 90s and about to win, you can still catch up within a couple of die rolls. Anyone can play this, and because it's purely based on luck, it's a good game for adults to play with children, and it helps to improve number skills for children, too.

It sounds very simple, and is, but the game can get very exciting, as well as frustrating. The luck fact means that gameplay is completely out of the players' hands and anything could happen, and it is quite funny sometimes to see playing pieces revisit the 90s over and over again without managing to reach that final 100, slithering down a snake each time!

I like to add some variations every now and then when I play. If you roll a double, you get to go again, or, to make it even more interesting, punish those who go up a ladder by making them miss the next turn and reward those sent crashing and slithering down a snake by giving them another go straight away. It does add a little more excitement to the game, and it is nice to create your own rules every now and then, even for the most traditional and simple of games.

You can buy many variations of Snakes and Ladders, and the boards also come in varying sizes, most commonly with 100 spaces, but often reduced sizes and less spaces. oYour best bet is to have a look round the shops to find the style of Snakes and Ladders game you want, but as a price guideline, you probably won't need to spend more than £5 to get a good quality board with playing pieces and a dice. I recommend Snakes and Ladders. It's a good Sunday afternoon family game to play when the weather's a bit dreary, and it's fun to do together.

Summary: Great family fun