Uploaded January 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Snakes and Ladders -- also called Chutes and Ladders in the US -- might look like a simple board game for kids, but it actually goes back thousands of years with deep, meaningful origins. And along the path of creating a morality-based game to help kids navigate the world around them, humans stumbled onto some pretty interesting math.
From reaching nirvana to exploring Markov chains, Snakes and Ladders weaves a surprisingly complex tale of virtue, vice, and dumb luck. So, I decided to electrify it. Literally.
Imaginative engineering YouTuber Allen Pan of Sufficiently Advanced helped me customize an old Snakes and Ladders board by hooking up batteries to the board itself, with conductive position markers and steel line in the game pieces that could make a circuit all the way to the end. And at that final 100th space, a surprise mystery box that I’ve never seen before is activated…
And thanks to Allen Pan of Sufficiently Advanced for not burning my house down: youtube.com/channel/UCVS89U86PwqzNkK2qYNbk5A
Chutes And Ladders 1943 Photo Courtesy of Toy Tales
toytales.ca/chutes-ladders-milton-bradley-1943
*** SOURCES ***
“Chutes and Ladders for the Impatient,” The College Mathematics Journal, January 2011, by Leslie A. Cheteyan, Stewart Hengeveld and Michael A. Jones: jstor.org/stable/10.4169/college.math.j.42.1.002?seq=1
“How Long Is a Game of Snakes and Ladders?” The Mathematical Gazette, March 1993, by S. C. Althoen, L. King and K. Schilling: jstor.org/stable/3619261?seq=1
“Markov Chains and Snakes and Ladders,” The Mathematical Gazette, December 1967, by D. E. Daykin, J. E. Jeacocke and D. G. Neal: jstor.org/stable/3612943?seq=1
“Analysis of Chutes and Ladders,” February 2015: possiblywrong.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/analysis-of-chutes-and-ladders
“Analysis of Chutes and Ladders,” November 2011, by DataGenetics: datagenetics.com/blog/november12011/index.html
“The Timelessness of Snakes and Ladders”: medium.com/re-form/the-timelessness-of-snakes-and-ladders-4ae7d205a4e7
“Chutes and Ladders Began as a Game to Teach Morality 2,000 Years Ago”: curiosity.com/topics/chutes-and-ladders-began-as-a-game-to-teach-morality-2000-years-ago-curiosity
*** LINKS ***
Vsauce2:
Twitter: twitter.com/VsauceTwo
Facebook: facebook.com/VsauceTwo
Hosted and Produced by Kevin Lieber
Instagram: instagram.com/kevlieber
Twitter: twitter.com/kevinlieber
Podcast: youtube.com/thecreateunknown
Research And Writing by Matthew Tabor
twitter.com/TaborTCU
Editing by Aspect Science
youtube.com/channel/UCyi06SeKkiwoAzFVmQtDtfg
Huge Thanks To Paula Lieber
etsy.com/shop/Craftality
Select Music By Jake Chudnow: youtube.com/user/JakeChudnow
Get Vsauce's favorite science and math toys delivered to your door!
curiositybox.com
#learning #education #vsauce2
Snakes and Ladders -- also called Chutes and Ladders in the US -- might look like a simple board game for kids, but it actually goes back thousands of years with deep, meaningful origins. And along the path of creating a morality-based game to help kids navigate the world around them, humans stumbled onto some pretty interesting math.
From reaching nirvana to exploring Markov chains, Snakes and Ladders weaves a surprisingly complex tale of virtue, vice, and dumb luck. So, I decided to electrify it. Literally.
Imaginative engineering YouTuber Allen Pan of Sufficiently Advanced helped me customize an old Snakes and Ladders board by hooking up batteries to the board itself, with conductive position markers and steel line in the game pieces that could make a circuit all the way to the end. And at that final 100th space, a surprise mystery box that I’ve never seen before is activated…
And thanks to Allen Pan of Sufficiently Advanced for not burning my house down: youtube.com/channel/UCVS89U86PwqzNkK2qYNbk5A
Chutes And Ladders 1943 Photo Courtesy of Toy Tales
toytales.ca/chutes-ladders-milton-bradley-1943
*** SOURCES ***
“Chutes and Ladders for the Impatient,” The College Mathematics Journal, January 2011, by Leslie A. Cheteyan, Stewart Hengeveld and Michael A. Jones: jstor.org/stable/10.4169/college.math.j.42.1.002?seq=1
“How Long Is a Game of Snakes and Ladders?” The Mathematical Gazette, March 1993, by S. C. Althoen, L. King and K. Schilling: jstor.org/stable/3619261?seq=1
“Markov Chains and Snakes and Ladders,” The Mathematical Gazette, December 1967, by D. E. Daykin, J. E. Jeacocke and D. G. Neal: jstor.org/stable/3612943?seq=1
“Analysis of Chutes and Ladders,” February 2015: possiblywrong.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/analysis-of-chutes-and-ladders
“Analysis of Chutes and Ladders,” November 2011, by DataGenetics: datagenetics.com/blog/november12011/index.html
“The Timelessness of Snakes and Ladders”: medium.com/re-form/the-timelessness-of-snakes-and-ladders-4ae7d205a4e7
“Chutes and Ladders Began as a Game to Teach Morality 2,000 Years Ago”: curiosity.com/topics/chutes-and-ladders-began-as-a-game-to-teach-morality-2000-years-ago-curiosity
*** LINKS ***
Vsauce2:
Twitter: twitter.com/VsauceTwo
Facebook: facebook.com/VsauceTwo
Hosted and Produced by Kevin Lieber
Instagram: instagram.com/kevlieber
Twitter: twitter.com/kevinlieber
Podcast: youtube.com/thecreateunknown
Research And Writing by Matthew Tabor
twitter.com/TaborTCU
Editing by Aspect Science
youtube.com/channel/UCyi06SeKkiwoAzFVmQtDtfg
Huge Thanks To Paula Lieber
etsy.com/shop/Craftality
Select Music By Jake Chudnow: youtube.com/user/JakeChudnow
Get Vsauce's favorite science and math toys delivered to your door!
curiositybox.com
#learning #education #vsauce2
