snakes and ladders

British  

noun

1. (functioning as singular) a board game in which players move counters along a series of squares according to throws of a dice. A ladder provides a short cut to a square nearer the finish and a snake obliges a player to return to a square nearer the start

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Example Sentences

In a decades-long game of transport snakes and ladders, Leeds was back at square one again.

From BBC

Salvadoran migrant, Guadalupe, likens the tactic to a giant game of snakes and ladders:

From BBC

The campaigns have also experienced many highs and lows – getting close to the statute books, and then being de-prioritised, in what must have felt like a legislative edition of snakes and ladders.

From BBC

Louis Vuitton’s sent out a huge board game — something akin to a trendy snakes and ladders — for its invite to a show plunging guests into the creative universe of the late designer Virgil Abloh.

From Seattle Times

Fighting Covid-19 sometimes feels like playing a game of snakes and ladders; move up three spaces, then something unexpected comes along and we all fall back a bit.

From BBC