Page 41 - GALIET PHYSICS BLOSSOMS I+

SNAKES AND LADDERS
By way of example, attempt to give the rules, symbols and axioms that would allow one to define the game of “Snakes and Ladders.” What kind of information would allow a computer to generate a game of Snakes and Ladders?
INTERPRETATION
In its simplest form Snakes and Ladders is a game of chance, not skill. Picture a 10x10 chessboard. Starting in the lowest left square follow a boustrophedon (ox-plough) track to end at the top leftmost square. The two players alternate throwing a die (hexædron), advancing a token the number of squares according to the number thrown (spots on the cube’s face). There are 19 snakes and ladders connecting squares on different rows. The ladders allow players to ascend to the top of the ladder—advancing more quickly; conversely, when landing on the tail of a snake, the player must descend to the head of the snake one or more rows below—delaying his or her advance. Whoever reaches the end first, wins.
RULES, SYMBOLS, AXIOMS
1. Make it a two-player game (although more than one can play at once).
2. The player who throws a higher die number (see below) starts the game.
3. Each player advances a token on a 10x10 board with 100 squares, starting in the lower left square, following an ox-plough path or what the Grecians called a boustrophedon motion.
4. Let each square be known as (N), where the number value of N ranges from 1 to 100.
5. The player who first reaches the last square 100 wins.
6. Let there be 10 ladders that cause a token [T] to advance/ascend from a lower square to a higher square.
7. Let there be 9 snakes that cause a token [T] to retreat/descend from a higher square to a lower square.
8. Let there be a six-sided die (cube) where each face of the die shows a value from 1 to 6, and which determines the number of squares each player’s token [T] advances.
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