Moksha Patam — the board that teaches
Ladders begin on virtues and snakes on vices. You roll and move, and the board carries you up or down according to what you land on. The dice decide, but the board says why.
From Moksha Patam (Gyan Chaupar), the Indian game behind Snakes and Ladders.
What it shows a designer
A game made entirely of chance that still carries a meaning, because every square is labelled. It shows how a board's words can make players read luck as a lesson, and how rules can make an argument.
Credits
- Made by
- Traditional, India; the source of Snakes and Ladders
- This version
- A 50-square board you draw; historical boards had 72, 84 or more squares, laid out differently
- Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders
core.ac.uk/download/269318121.pdf
What you need
- paper with a numbered board of 50 squares, snakes and ladders drawn on it
- one die
- a coin or pebble for each player
How to play
- The board. Draw a board of 50 squares in rows of ten, numbered so that the path snakes back and forth from 1 at the bottom to 50 at the top. Draw five ladders and five snakes. At the foot of each ladder write a virtue, such as generosity or patience; at the head of each snake, a vice, such as anger or greed.
- A turn. Roll the die and move that many squares along the path.
- Up and down. Land at the foot of a ladder and climb to its top. Land on a snake's head and slide to its tail.
- Finish. You must land exactly on 50; a roll that would take you past it leaves you where you are.
- Win. The first to reach 50 wins.
After playing, talk about
- Which virtues and vices did you choose, and why there?
- Did the words change how it felt to climb or slide?
- Is it a game, a lesson, or both?
Its blocks
- roll and move
- race to finish
- solo in parallel
- chance read as a sign
- ritual or sacred
- take turns
- rules make an argument
In boardgameBuilder, Open game puts its blocks on the canvas. Changed, the same file can come back here from Propose a game.