Snakes and ladders

We all have played this game while growing up. Easy board game on a hot holiday summer afternoon. I recall having played this game with various changes in rules to accommodate the younger members of the family. I remember my sister (much younger than I am) would get to roll the dice again if she was bitten by a snake. The snake bites were not poisonous for her once she had crossed the block marked ninety. It was still interesting to play instead of frying oneself in hot south indian sun.

Recently I was introduced to a very different view of this game. My niece who is about 3 years old comes up with this theory. She says when you are at the tail of a snake you race like a snake and move up to the block where it has its head. And when you hit the top of a ladder you slide down to the block at the bottom of the ladder. I felt this was very intuitive. If you look at this theory closely snake is not considered dangerous, its positive qualities of swiftness in motion defines the rule. The idea of going down the ladder too fits well with the laws of gravity. We all know it is hard to climb up the ladder and easy to slide down. Well I buy the argument, I might play it like this the next time around.