How to play
You control a snake that glides around a 20 by 20 board. Guide its head onto the round red food to eat it. Every piece of food adds one point and makes the snake one cell longer. The longer you get, the less room you have, so the real game is planning your route. The round ends when the snake crashes, and if you ever fill the whole board you win.
The snake always keeps moving. You only choose where it turns next. Press any arrow key, swipe on the board, or tap the on-screen arrows to start.
Rules
- The snake starts with three cells in the middle of the board, moving right.
- Eating food scores 1 point and adds one cell to the tail. A new piece of food then appears on a random empty cell, never on the snake.
- You cannot turn straight back on yourself. A 180-degree reversal is ignored instead of killing you.
- Running into your own body ends the game. Moving into the cell your tail is just leaving is safe, because the tail moves away at the same moment.
- Walls on: touching the edge of the board ends the game. The border is drawn as a solid line.
- Walls off: the snake wraps around and comes out on the opposite side. The border is drawn as a dashed line.
- Fill all 400 cells and you win.
Speed can be Slow, Normal or Fast. Changing speed or walls starts a fresh game, and your best score is stored separately for each of the six combinations.
Controls
Keyboard
- ← ↑ → ↓ or W A S D steer the snake.
- Space or P pauses and resumes.
- Enter starts a game or plays again after the game is over.
Touch
- Swipe anywhere on the board in the direction you want to turn. The page does not scroll while you swipe on the board.
- On touch screens, four large arrow buttons appear under the board, together with Pause and Restart.
Mouse
- Use the Start, Resume and Play again buttons, and the speed and walls switches below the board.
The game pauses by itself when you switch to another tab or another window, so you never lose a run by looking away.
Tips and strategy
- Queue your turns. If you press two directions quickly, both are remembered and used on consecutive steps. That makes tight U-turns and quick dodges easy.
- Stay off the edges. With walls on, running along the border leaves you only one way to turn. Keep one row or column of free space when you can.
- Plan for your tail. A long snake is also a moving wall. Think about where the tail will be by the time you get there, since that cell will usually be free.
- Use a pattern late in the game. Once the snake is long, sweeping the board in an orderly zigzag wastes little space and keeps an escape route open.
- Don't chase food into a corner. Sometimes the safest move is a wide loop that lets you approach the food from open space.
- Learn wrap-around. With walls off, the shortest path to food is often across the border. It is also easy to forget that the other side is open, so check before you turn.
- Start slow. Slow speed leaves more time to plan, and it is a good way to practise the routes you will need at Fast.
Frequently asked questions
Why did nothing happen when I pressed the opposite direction?
A direct reversal would make the snake run into its own neck, so the game ignores it. Turn sideways first, then turn again.
Is my best score saved?
Yes. The best score for each speed and walls combination is stored in your browser. If your browser blocks storage the game still works, but scores are not remembered. A game in progress is not saved.
What does walls off mean?
The edges no longer hurt. When the snake leaves one side of the board it appears on the opposite side, so only your own body can stop you.
Why did the game pause on its own?
Snake pauses when the tab is hidden or the window loses focus. Press Space, tap Resume or press any arrow key to carry on.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Swipe on the board or use the large arrow buttons under it. The game also works offline once the page has loaded.
Can I actually win?
Yes, by filling every cell of the board with snake. It takes a lot of patience and a careful route, but it is possible.
More free games
- 2048 – slide and merge tiles to reach the top number.
- Block Puzzle – fit shapes onto the grid and clear lines.
- Minesweeper – find the mines using logic.
- Memory – match the pairs in as few moves as you can.
- Four in a Row – drop discs and line up four.
- Tic Tac Toe – the quick classic against the computer or a friend.
- Word Search – spot hidden words in the grid.
- Sudoku – fill the grid with logic.