Snakes and ladders

[Couch Potatoe]

a childrens game played on a board that has pictures of snakes and ladders

[ScottLer]

a board game for children who use dice to move counters up ladders and down snakes

[Malcolmdof]

Snakes and Ladders is an ancient Indian board game regarded today as a worldwide classic. It is played between two or more players on a gameboard having numbered, gridded squares. A number of ladders and snakes are pictured on the board, each connecting two specific board squares. The object of the game is to navigate ones game piece, according to die rolls, from the start to the finish, helped or hindered by ladders and snakes, respectively. The historic version had root in morality lessons, where a players progression up the board represented a life journey complicated by virtues and vices.
The game is a simple race contest lacking a skill component, and is popular with young children.

[ArthuraCig]

any situation in which people or events go forward and backward, seemingly at random