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How To Make a Snakes & Ladders Game

Snakes and Ladders, also commonly referred to as Chutes and Ladders, is a board game in which players try to move their game pieces across a game board with 100 spaces. Certain spaces are marked by a ladder that can be climbed to jump ahead, while others have a snake or a chute that sends the player who lands on it back several spaces. Use this guide to make your own Snakes and Ladders game.

Things You'll Need

Old game board or poster board Paint Ruler Paint pen

Instructions

- 1
  Paint the old game board white. Skip this step if you are using poster board, but the goal is to start with a blank game board.
- 2
  Measure each side of the board, and divide that number by 10. For example, if each side of the board is 15 inches, your result is 1.5 inches. Mark the edges of the board at these intervals.
- 3
  Divide the board into 100 spaces by drawing straight lines across the board, using the paint pen, to connect each of the marks made in the previous step.
- 4
  Begin at the bottom left of the board, and draw a small number one in the first space. Move to the right across the board, labeling each space with the next number. Once you reach the end of a row, move up one space, and continue working in the opposite direction across the next row.
- 5
  Paint the snakes or chutes onto your game. Spread out where each snake is located as well as the penalty for each snake. Have some only send players down one row, while others might send players from a high-number space, such as 85, down to a low-number space, such as 4. Five or six snakes should be added.
- 6
  Paint the ladders in the same manner as the snakes. Spread them out, and vary the reward for each ladder. Have at least one ladder give players a very large advantage.

Board Games