It felt like scholarly Evan was channeling my inner critic when he roasted the book intro. I think one of the reasons I struggle to get through books these days is the way some make my eyes roll involuntarily.
It makes total sense now that landing on the snake's head means it eats you and you come out the other end! It's sometimes hard for me to know where the line between fact and fantasy is here, but I'm curious about the game's history, as I believe most board games originated as tests of strategic thinking or mock battle. (A friend got me into backgammon a few years ago and I find all those old games and the traditions behind them kind of fascinating :-) It seems pretty unique that this one's focus was self-knowledge!
I discovered the backstory of Snakes and Ladders from reading David Parlett’s “History of Board Games” a couple of years ago. I found out that the game was used as a meditation tool (of all things). It’s a very interesting and well written book. He echoes much of what your wrote about backgammon and the use of board games as tools for strategic thinking, especially the ancient Chinese game of Wei-Chi (Go), which figures into a later section of my story. :-)
It felt like scholarly Evan was channeling my inner critic when he roasted the book intro. I think one of the reasons I struggle to get through books these days is the way some make my eyes roll involuntarily.
It makes total sense now that landing on the snake's head means it eats you and you come out the other end! It's sometimes hard for me to know where the line between fact and fantasy is here, but I'm curious about the game's history, as I believe most board games originated as tests of strategic thinking or mock battle. (A friend got me into backgammon a few years ago and I find all those old games and the traditions behind them kind of fascinating :-) It seems pretty unique that this one's focus was self-knowledge!
I discovered the backstory of Snakes and Ladders from reading David Parlett’s “History of Board Games” a couple of years ago. I found out that the game was used as a meditation tool (of all things). It’s a very interesting and well written book. He echoes much of what your wrote about backgammon and the use of board games as tools for strategic thinking, especially the ancient Chinese game of Wei-Chi (Go), which figures into a later section of my story. :-)