Snake game: play snake online

A snake game that runs in your browser

This snake game needs no account and no download. Play it with the keyboard, a mouse or a finger. The snake moves on its own across a 20 × 20 grid and you steer it towards the fruit. Each fruit is worth 1 point and makes the snake one square longer. The game ends when the snake hits a wall, an obstacle or its own body.

How to play snake online

1. Pick a “Speed”, the “Edges” and the “Obstacles”, then press “Play”, Space or simply an arrow key.
2. Steer with the arrow keys or with WASD. On a French AZERTY keyboard, ZQSD works too.
3. On a phone or tablet, swipe on the board in the direction you want, or tap the direction pad below it.
4. Space, P or the “Pause” button stops the game. It also pauses by itself when you switch to another tab.

The snake can never reverse: a key pointing straight back is ignored. Two turns typed in quick succession are queued and played one after the other, so a tight hairpin turn does not get lost.

Speeds, edges and levels

Every game starts with a snake three squares long. On “Slow” it moves 5 squares a second, on “Normal” 8 and on “Fast” 12.5. That pace does not depend on your screen: a 144 Hz gaming monitor does not make the snake faster than an old laptop at 30 frames per second. With “Gradual speed-up”, every fruit shortens the step by 3 %, down to 0.055 seconds. On Normal, that limit is reached at the 27th fruit; on Fast, at the 13th.

“Wrap-around edges” removes the walls: leave on the right and you come back on the left. “Obstacles” adds fixed blocks: four blocks on level 1, two corridors on level 2, two corridors plus two side walls on level 3. Fruit never appears on the snake or on an obstacle. Fill every free square and you win: with no obstacles that is 400 squares, or 397 fruit.

“Turn by turn” is meant for screen reader users, or for anyone who wants time to think. The snake only moves when you press a direction, and each step reads out the score, the heading and where the fruit is, for example “Fruit: 3 right, 2 up”.

Tips for a high score

• Hug the edges. Circling the board keeps the middle open for manoeuvres.
• Keep room to move. Never seal yourself into a pocket; fruit at the end of a dead end can wait.
• Plan ahead. The tail frees its last square on the next step, so think two or three turns ahead.
• Start slow. A best score is kept for each combination of settings, so a Slow record is never compared with a Fast one.

The idea of a line that keeps growing goes back to arcade games of the late 1970s, where two players left a trail behind them.

Frequently asked questions

Where is my best score saved?

In this browser on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere. “Clear best scores” resets them all.

Why does the snake ignore me when I press backwards?

A U-turn would drive the head straight into the neck and end the game at once, so the move is refused. To head the other way, turn twice in the same direction.

Can I turn the sound off?

Yes, untick “Sounds”. The effects are short and quiet anyway: a soft blip for each fruit and a low tone when the game is over.