What is Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 board?
The large board has 144 squares in twelve rows of twelve instead of 100 in rows of ten. The squares wind up the board in the same way: the first row runs left to right, the next right to left, and so on up to square 144 in the top corner.
The board has its own layout of thirteen ladders and twelve snakes, spread over the whole board so that every row has something to climb or to fear. Every ladder climbs at least one row and every snake drops at least one row. No ladder ends at the foot of another ladder or at the head of a snake, and no snake ends at the foot of a ladder, so every climb and every slide is a single move. The last snake waits on square 143, one short of the finish.
Everything else is the standard game: roll the die, move your token that many squares, climb a ladder you land at the foot of, slide down a snake you land on the head of, and reach square 144 with an exact roll to win. The race is longer and a lead is less safe, because there are more snakes between a leader and the finish.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Snakes & Ladders | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 board |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Snakes & Ladders10 × 10, squares 1 to 100. | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 board12 × 12, squares 1 to 144. |
| Ladders | Standard Snakes & Ladders11 ladders. | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 board13 ladders, from 4 to 27 at the start up to 127 to 140 near the top. |
| Snakes | Standard Snakes & Ladders10 snakes; the highest waits on 99. | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 board12 snakes; the highest waits on 143 and drops to 122. |
| Finish | Standard Snakes & LaddersAn exact roll onto square 100 wins. | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 boardAn exact roll onto square 144 wins. |
| Game length | Standard Snakes & LaddersAbout 34 turns for a token on its own to reach the end, in our simulations. | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 boardAbout 42 turns. With four players, about 24 turns each against about 17 on the standard board. |
| Other options | Standard Snakes & LaddersBounce back and the rules for sixes can be changed in the setup. | Snakes & Ladders on a 12×12 boardBounce back still applies, counted from square 144; a 6 rolls again as in the standard game. |
History
The size of the grid varies, and the most common sizes are 8×8, 10×10 and 12×12 squares. The 10×10 board of 100 squares is the best known: the earliest known English version, registered in October 1892, had a spiral track of 100 numbered spaces, and the American edition released in 1943 is played on a 10×10 board.
The game comes from India, where it was known as Moksha Patam and, in the version associated with Jain philosophy, as gyan chaupar, the game of wisdom. Its ladders stood for virtues such as generosity, faith and humility, and its snakes for vices such as lust and anger. The layout of this 12×12 board was designed for this site and carries no such meanings.