A classic game for young children

As a British child, one of the games I played frequently was Snakes and Ladders. It remains one of the most popular games in Britain for young children. Many years later, I discovered that American children play this game too, but with the snakes replaced by chutes. There are other differences too (at least as far as this particular product is concerned) - the die (a simple, solid cube) used in the British game is replaced by a less durable spinner, while the counters (simple circular pieces of plastic) used in Britain to move around the board are replaced by cardboard characters that fit into plastic stands - again, much less durable than their British equivalents. Perhaps these fancy pieces are designed to make the game seem more interesting. The British game is sufficiently appealing to children without them - the snakes are colourful and much more attractive than chutes can ever be.

Classic, but poor construction

This is close to the classic snakes & ladders we played as children, but it is not very durable. The playing pieces are little folded cardboard characters that fit into plastic stands. The spinner does not work well. We replaced ours with a die. (I keep extra dice on hand for games like that). My son (age 4) can count to 100, but sometimes he still gets confused as to which way to go and occasionally wants to "climb" a ladder when his spot crosses halfway instead of at the bottom.

My son and I played this constantly...

My son got this game for Christmas last year and we played it over and over! I expected him to be more stressed about sliding down the chutes but it was a really good experience for him to learn about "chance and luck". He learned that sometimes you get lucky and get to climb a ladder and sometimes you are unlucky and have to slide down the chute. I think it was a valuable lesson for him to learn and am glad we played it so much. He is a much better sport now when we play games!