Snake
Play Snake Online for Free
Steer the snake to the food. Each bite makes it longer and faster, until it reaches full speed at 27 points.
How to play
The board is 16×16. Pick Walls or Wrap around on the start screen, then press Play.
- Swipe or press an arrow. The snake starts 3 squares long and facing right, so it sets off any way but left.
- Keep steering. It never stops, and each turn happens on the next square.
- Eat the green circle for 1 point. The next one appears on a random empty square.
The head running into the body ends the game. In Walls the edge ends it too; in Wrap around the snake comes back in on the opposite side.
You win when the snake fills all 256 squares, at 253 points.
Controls
| Action | Touch | Mouse | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start or steer the snake | Swipe on the board, or tap an arrow below | Click an arrow below, or drag across the board | Arrow keys or W, A, S, D |
| Pause | Pause button | Pause button | Esc |
| Carry on after a pause | Resume button | Resume button | Esc or Enter |
| New snake, same mode | New game button | New game button | Esc, then Restart |
| Sound on or off | Mute sound button | Mute sound button | Tab to Mute sound, then Enter |
The arrows under the board act the moment you touch them, and a swipe counts before you lift your finger. A held key counts once. On an AZERTY keyboard, Z, Q, S and D steer, because the letter keys count by position.
Tips and strategy
Count the room before you enter a gap
Before you slip between your body and a wall, check that the whole snake fits. Chasing the food by the shortest way ends most Walls games early; skip any pocket with fewer free squares than the snake is long.
Go through the edge in Wrap around
In Wrap around, the food is never more than 8 columns and 8 rows away. Say the snake runs right, 2 squares from the edge, with the food 3rd from the left in the same row. Straight on through the edge, that is 5 moves. Walls needs 13: up, 11 to the left, then down.
Turn around with two quick presses
Pressing straight back into the neck does nothing, but 2 quick turns wait in line. Heading right, press Up, then Left: the snake climbs one row and runs back above its body. A third press is dropped. At full speed, press the second arrow straight after the first.
Follow your tail when space runs out
The head may enter the square the tail is leaving, so a 4-square snake can circle a 2×2 block for good. On a crowded board the squares behind the tail free up first. Trail it until a path to the food opens.
About Snake
Snake games are usually traced to a two-player arcade game from 1976, designed by Lane Hauck. Each player steered an arrow that left a solid line behind it, and crashing into any line or the edge of the screen gave the other player a point. Here the snake grows only when it eats.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you win at Snake?
- Yes, but slowly. Follow one fixed route through every square and the head never meets the body, so you always win; a game played that way takes 18 to 25 minutes.
- Is Wrap around easier than Walls?
- Yes. Leaving the board brings the snake back on the far side, so only its own body can end a game.
- Is my game saved if I stop?
- Yes, once the snake has eaten. Pausing, switching tabs or leaving the page saves it, one game per mode. Press Play in that mode in the same browser and it waits for your next direction; a crash or New game clears it.
