Snakes and ladders history: from Moksha Patam to your table

Almost everyone has played snakes and ladders. Fewer people know that it is an Indian game, that it was once a way of teaching moral lessons, and that the snakes were once the point. This is a short history of where the game came from, with an honest note on the parts historians still argue about.

Born in India

Snakes and ladders is generally traced to ancient India, where it was known by names such as Moksha Patam, Mokshapat and Gyan Chaupar. The Sanskrit word moksha means liberation, the release from the cycle of birth and death that features in several Indian religious traditions. The game was a playful picture of that journey. It was played on a board of squares with a die or with cowrie shells, and it was apparently enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Virtues, vices and the climb to liberation

In the traditional versions, the board was a lesson in living well. Ladders stood for virtues, such as generosity, faith or humility, which lift a person upward. Snakes stood for vices, such as anger, greed or lust, which drag a person down. The goal at the top represented moksha. Land on a virtue and you rise; land on a vice and you fall. Because a roll of the dice decided where you landed, the game also hinted at the idea that good conduct and fortune are both part of any life.

Some boards were painted with figures, names and short verses beside each square. In many surviving examples there are more snakes than ladders, which fits the message that vice is easier to fall into than virtue is to climb. These details varied by region and period, so treat any one board as an example, not a rule.

How old is it?

This is where care is needed. You will often read that the game is two thousand years old, or that it was invented by a specific saint in the thirteenth century. Different sources attribute it to different times. The honest summary is that it is old, that it is Indian, that it was associated with Hindu and Jain teaching traditions, and that its exact date and inventor are not firmly established. Boards survive from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and those are the evidence we can actually hold in our hands.

The journey west

During the British colonial period, the game travelled to England, where it appeared in the late nineteenth century as Snakes and Ladders. In the move, the moral lesson was largely softened into a children’s entertainment about good and bad behaviour, and the design shifted. Boards from this era often show cheerful scenes and a roughly even balance of snakes and ladders. It became a common nursery game and a popular export.

In the United States, a version appeared in the twentieth century under the name Chutes and Ladders. It replaced snakes with slides, a change that suited a children’s market that had little appetite for serpents. The structure was the same: roll, climb, slide, race to the top.

Why the game has lasted

The board on inkmate

The inkmate snakes and ladders board has nine ladders and ten snakes on a hundred-square grid, so the snakes outnumber the ladders by one in the spirit of the old boards. The ladder from 80 goes straight to 100, and the snake from 98 sends you down to 78, which keeps the finish tense. You can play against bots, pass one phone, or make a private room of up to six. For the rules and tips, see how to play snakes and ladders online.

A game that hides a philosophy

Next time you slide down a long snake, you might find it comforting that for centuries the game has been telling players that falling is part of the journey. Another Indian-born classic is worth knowing about too: ludo, which grew out of the ancient game Pachisi. Both are proof that some of the best-loved family games began as something much deeper than a pastime. Ludo has its own guide in ludo rules for beginners.

tip: Want to play the old way? Ask everyone to name a virtue for each ladder and a vice for each snake as they land on them. It turns a pure-luck game into a surprisingly good conversation.