Start to loathe snakes and their game counterparts (7)
I believe the answer is:
ladders
'their game counterparts' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'start to loathe snakes' is the wordplay.
'start to' indicates taking the first letters.
'snakes' becomes 'adders' (adder is a kind of snake).
The initial letter of 'loathe' is 'l'.
'l'+'adders'='LADDERS'
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ladders that I've seen before include "lots of steps" , "Hose runners" , "Rows of rungs" , "Raddles (anag.)" , "Set of steps" .)