Snakes and Ladders is an old Indian table game considered today as a world classic. It is played between two or more players on a board that has square, numbered squares. A series of "stairs" and "snakes" are shown on the board, each of which connects two specific board squares. The object of the game is to navigate the game piece, according to the scrolls, from the beginning (bottom square) to the end (upper square), aided or hindered by stairs and snakes, respectively.
The game is a simple racing contest based on pure luck, and is popular with young children. The historical version had roots in morality lessons, where a player's upward progression represented a life journey complicated by virtues (stairs) and vices (snakes). A commercial version with different morality lessons, Chutes and Ladders, is published by Milton Bradley.
The size of the grid (more commonly 8 × 8, 10 × 10, or 12 × 12) varies from table to table, as does the exact arrangement of snakes and ladders, with both factors affecting the duration of the game. Each player is represented by a clearly colored game piece token. A single dice is rolled to determine the random move of a player's chip in the traditional form of play.