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Snakes and Ladders
It is common11 In Sweden, at least. for promotional pamphlets aimed at
children to contain a themed variant of snakes and ladders. This is the “game”
where the players toss a die, move as many places as the die says, and then some
spots on the board have an event that send the player forward, or back, or give
them an extra toss or whatever.
The theme is typically related to whatever the promoter wants to promote, but
styled for children. I get the appeal – for children. They can probably imagine
they’re really travelling along the path! In the variant pictured below, there’s
forest and water and tunnels and dogs and everything!
But as a game, it sucks. For everyone. My children hate losing, and these
games have n−1 losers for every n players. There are also literally zero
decisions for the players to make, so I cannot make it through even a few turns
without zoning out.
Here’s how to make it slightly better. I haven’t analysed this for fairness,
but it’s a good start. And it works for basically any promotional snakes and
ladders board.
Each player has a pawn, starting at the starting point of the board. If all
pawns get to the finish, the group has collectively won the game. If any player
Movement is not done with a die. Instead, six playing cards (ace to six) are
placed face up on the table. Before a player moves, the team discusses which
card they should use. When a card is selected, that card is flipped back-side up
(to indicate that it has been used) and the player moves that many positions.
The next player then gets to choose a card, with the previously used card
unavailable for selection.
After a short while, one player will get a forced move, because there is only
one face up card remaining. But since the players have discussed which cards to
use in which order, hopefully that forced move is still good! After that move,
all six cards are back-side up, and then they are all turned face up again and
become available for selection for the next player.
This is an easy game. With a typical promotional snakes and ladders board, the
team does not need much foresight to maintain cohesion, avoid snakes, and make
it to the finish. But it still gives a veneer of decision-making to the
participating adult, meaning it is slightly easier to stay engaged than a game
that doesn’t even pretend to give the players any choice. And it’s still just
as fun for children, if not more so, because now it’s a goal to stay together!
I haven’t tested it as much as the previous base game, but here is how the game
can be made easier, yet more varied. At the start, players pick one role each.
The roles come with a special ability, which can be used once per game, at any
point during that player’s turn.
These roles are not balanced at all – the gambler, for example, is strictly
worse than the sprinter. However, some of them can lead to fun interactions,
such as the insurer marking a snake in front of the gambler safe before the
gambler makes use of their ability!