Playing Serpents & Ladders in Games by Zaweba

Serpents & Ladders is the simplest race on the Board games shelf, and that is exactly its charm. You and three computer players start at the bottom of a board numbered 1 to 100, and the first counter to reach the top square wins. There is no strategy to agonise over and no rules to look up halfway through. Roll, hop, hope.

That makes it a good first game for anyone opening Games by Zaweba for the first time, and a good one to hand to a younger player on a shared PC. Everything you need is on the screen, and a full game takes only as long as the dice decide.

Your turn in Serpents & Ladders

You play the red counter. When it is your turn, click Roll the dice, or press Space or R if your hand is already on the keyboard. Your counter hops forward by the number you rolled, square by square, and then the three computer players take their turns in the same way.

Two kinds of square change the race. Land at the foot of a ladder and you climb straight up it, which can carry you a long way up the board in one go. Land on a serpent's head and you slide all the way down to its tail. Neither is something you choose: the dice put you there, and the board does the rest.

The first player to land on square 100 wins.

The exact-roll game

There is a second way to play. In the exact-roll game you have to reach 100 with the right number. If your roll would carry you past the last square, you bounce back by the amount you overshot instead of finishing.

This changes the end of the game quite a lot. In the ordinary race, the last few squares are a formality once you are close. In the exact-roll game they can be the most tense part of the match, because a counter sitting three squares from home needs that one number, and the computer players are stuck with the same rule. A bounce can also drop you onto a serpent you thought you had escaped, which is either very funny or very annoying depending on whose counter it is.

If you are playing with a child who is learning to count, the exact-roll game is a nice way to practise working out how many squares are left and what number is needed.

Getting the most out of a short game

Because the result is down to the dice, the satisfaction comes from the moments rather than from clever play. A long ladder near the start, a lucky escape past a row of serpents, a computer player who was miles ahead tumbling to the bottom: those are the stories of a game.

A few habits make it more enjoyable. Use Space or R to roll if you want a brisk game, since your turn is just one press. Press Esc if you need to pause, which works in every game in the app, and F11 if you would like the board full screen on a bigger monitor. If you forget a rule, F1 explains any game, and the title card shows the rules and controls before you start.

Where it sits on the Board games shelf

Serpents & Ladders is the luck end of the Board games shelf. Once you have had your fill of pure chance, Tables (backgammon) is the natural next step: dice still drive it, but your decisions matter on every roll. Star Marbles drops the dice altogether and becomes a game of planning long chains of hops.

Every game in Games by Zaweba keeps your plays and wins for each mode, so you can see how often your red counter actually makes it home first. If it becomes a family favourite, star it so it sits with your favourites, ready for the next rainy afternoon. It runs entirely offline, with no adverts and no account, so there is nothing to sign into before the first roll.