Snakes and Ladders Unleashed!

Overnight board game success…eight years in the making

London-based multi-award winning games designer, including the 2012 UK Games Expo Award for Best Strategic Game, Rafi Arkin, has seen his dreams finally come true with a licensing deal and publication of his second successful Kickstarter Campaign, Snakes & Ladders Unleashed, launched by The Happy Puzzle Company in November, just in time for Christmas.

Snakes & Ladders Unleashed is a fast-paced dice game with a continuously evolving board layout and movable snakes and ladders. Players try to improve their chances of gaining ground faster, whilst at the same time trying to block their opponents’ progress.

This is Rafi Arkin’s fourth board game launch over the last 12 years and the first to be published by an established game publisher and retailer. It is already made its way into the top 20 board games sold by The Happy Puzzle Company after only four weeks on sale.

Snakes and Ladders Unleashed was originally launched by Rafi Arkin in 2018 as a successful Kickstarter Campaign, after many months of intensive game design and development.

Rafi Arkin, the Creator of Snakes & Ladders Unleashed said:

“I’ve always loved card and board games, and have had a few successes over the year. With Snakes & Ladders Unleashed, I have created the best of both worlds. Taking a 2,000 year old game concept, snakes and ladders, based purely on luck, and turning it into a strategic family action game has meant that a whole new generation of board game lovers can enjoy snakes and ladders in a new and exciting way”

“Following all the long hours developing, launching and fulfilling the original Snakes & Ladders Unleashed Kickstarter campaign back in 2018, and only just breaking even, it is amazing to see that all that hard work and nights in the garage have finally paid off now that The Happy Puzzle Company have published the game”

The Happy Puzzle Company, based in Hertfordshire has been manufacturing and retailing games and puzzles for 25 years, and has only recently started licencing new ideas for games from UK-based board games designers, helping to promote and support this burgeoning base of home-grown designers.

Gavin Ucko, Founder and Owner of The Happy Puzzle Company said:

“We discovered Snakes & Ladders Unleashed through a mutual friend who introduced us to this superb game that had been so wonderfully crafted for the gaming community. We immediately saw its potential for the mainstream market, bringing a whole generation of families back to a game they played as young children, but with this wonderful twist. Watching the game develop has been a wonderful experience and I am really proud that we have stuck closely to Rafi Arkin’s original version, whilst designing the game for a much larger audience. The first month’s sales lead us to suggest that this is going to be huge.”

To read the full case study have a look at our Publisher Designer Resources here.

If you fancy this game for Christmas then have a look at the Happy Puzzle Company's site here or check out their social media links on Facebook or Twitter.