Game Review: Giant Snakes and Ladders

A while ago, we picked up a used game for the kids, "Giant Snakes and Ladders." It looked like a dead-ringer for the American classic, "Chutes and Ladders." Except with giant snakes, of course. How cool is that?

I'm afraid I had some big misconceptions. Turns out this game is popular the world over, originating out of India as Snakes and Ladders, the name it is known by everywhere except for English-speaking North America. In India, the game emphasized the role of karma/fate/destiny by using the random role of a die to move the player forward. It's a game of luck, not skill. The ladders represented virtues which helped one ascend to a higher level while the snakes represented vices which forced one to reincarnate in lower life forms.

Another misconception was about the giant snakes (who maybe represent really bad vices?). Unfortunately, the adjective "giant" didn't apply specifically to the snakes, but to the game as a whole. The board is on a vinyl mat like the mat for Twister. In fact, Jacob seems to have mistaken his toy clock for the Twister spinner and is trying to play the wrong game.

The game does come with a giant six-sided die to help play the game. It's easy to read and easy for little hands to roll. Maybe a little too easy, as we had to institute some house rules:

• Since the die was being rolled all over the place, we ruled that the die had to be cast into the game box lid for it to count.
• Since the children would often disrupt the game by walking on the game board, we ruled no stepping on the game board.
• Since the children would often crush the game box lid by walking on it, we ruled no stepping on the game box.

Jacob has enough patience to play to the end of the game. Lucy is still not quite that interested and will wander off after four or five turns. When Jacob does win, he often grabs the other players' pieces and bring them up to the top spot so we are winners. Karmically, it's quite cool.