Ambassador Games Wood Ludo, Snakes & Ladders Set

Both Ludo and Snakes & Ladders have long been amongst the most popular board games for children. Ludo dates back to the 6th century India, where the board game was depicted in the form illustrations on the wall. The game eventually became famous around the world, with regional variations and under new names. Though the player has some choice in what to do, luck dominates in deciding who wins and who loses, making it an excellent game to play for children. Up to four players each have four pieces, which they race around the outside of a cross-shaped board according to the throws of a single six-sided dice. Snakes & Ladders also traces its origins back to India. The original design & gameplay integrated complex history & philosophies, played under names which translate as "Game of Self-Knowledge" and "Ladder to Salvation". The games were associated with traditional Hindu philosophy contrasting karma and kama, or destiny and desire. The game was introduced in England in 1892, with designs adjusted so that the Indian virtues and vices were replaced by English ones in hopes of better reflecting Victorian doctrines of morality. Many of the board designs were heavy with symbolic images; the ladders would represent virtues such as generosity, faith, and humility, while the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, and theft. The morality lesson of the game was that a person can attain salvation through doing good, whereas by doing evil one will be reborn as lower forms of life. Nowadays most of the heavy-handed moral lessons have been replaced with more frivolous illustrations, however the essence of the game remains loyal to history - on various squares are ladders that move players further up the board and snakes that slide them back down. The first player to reach the final square, entirely by chance, is declared the winner!