How to play Snake
- Press Start, or any arrow key.
- Steer the snake with the arrow keys or WASD on a computer, or swipe and use the arrow buttons on a phone.
- Eat the red apples. Every apple makes the snake longer and is worth 10 points.
- Do not run into your own tail – or, with Walls on, into the edge of the board.
The space bar pauses the game. Every five apples the snake gets a little faster.
Speeds and walls
- Slow is for learning the controls – and for children.
- Normal is the classic game.
- Fast is for when normal is too easy.
- Switch Walls off and the snake comes out on the other side of the board instead of crashing – easier, and a different kind of game.
Your best score at each speed is kept on your device.
Tips for a long snake
- Stay near the edges while the snake is short and leave the middle free.
- Move in loops: going up and down the board in rows keeps the tail out of your way.
- Do not chase an apple into a corner if you cannot see the way out.
- Plan two moves ahead: a quick up-then-left is remembered, so you can turn in tight spaces.
A classic since the arcades
The snake game goes back to the arcade game Blockade from 1976, and it became famous on mobile phones in the late 1990s, when it came built into millions of them. The idea has not changed since: one snake, one apple, one more try.
Free, in your browser
No download, no app, no account. The game runs on this page, on a phone, a tablet or a computer, and the game in progress and your best results stay on your device.