Snakes and Ladders on the Go.

I am very possessive of my iPad.  It’s mine, and I’ll be honest, I hate sharing it with my kids.

Because of this, I am very selective of which apps I add for the kids (lest I spend all my time coming up with excuses as to why they cannot use Mummy’s iPad); in particular, I like apps that we can use together. 

One such app is iPieces Snakes and Ladders by Jumbo Games. The iPieces games cleverly combine the fun of old-fashioned board games with the technology of the iPad touch-screen.  The Snakes and Ladder set comes with four pawns and two “ladders”, each covered on the bottom with a felt pad to protect your screen. Applying a little pressure with your pawn will light up each square as it lands; a firm tap on the die will make it roll for you. When your pawn lands on a snake, it wriggles and writhes on the screen! A free to download on iTunes is available with the pieces and is pretty easy to follow.

The game has been a big hit with my kids and I’m particularly happy to play this game with my five-year-old as the game also offers her an opportunity to practice her counting skills. (Snakes and Ladders was mentioned at a recent maths night as a good way to incorporate counting practice – any time we can fit in some maths outside of school is a plus to me!)

I confess that while we love the game, I don’t always tote around the ladders around in my purse (I always carry the pawns in a zippered pouch with my iPad accessories, as they are small), and it is my one niggle about the game. (That said, after playing it for a while now, we do know where the ladder will end up, so we use our fingers to draw the ladder if I don’t have one on hand.) Since the snakes wiggle responsively when landing on their square, I think a huge improvement to the game could be for a ladder to slide up when you land on a ladder square.

However, the pieces are relatively compact and if you are traveling they would take up relatively little room for the entertainment value offered.

The iPieces games are available at WH Smith and online at Amazon.co.uk for my UK friends!