Snake Game

How to play the snake game

You steer a snake around a walled, checkered field. Every apple it eats makes it one square longer, and a new apple appears on a random free square. The run ends the moment the head hits a wall or any part of the snake's own body. Your score is simply the number of apples eaten.

It's free, needs no download or sign-up, and runs in any modern browser on a computer or a phone.

• The field is 17 squares wide and 15 tall, the same size as the snake game Google shows in its search results.
• The snake starts four squares long, facing right, with the first apple straight ahead.
• The snake never stops moving. You only choose which way it turns.
• It can't turn back on itself: pressing the opposite direction does nothing.
• If the snake is about to hit a wall or its own body, it waits one step first, so a last-second turn still saves the run.
• Turn on Pass-through walls below the board and the edges wrap around: leave on one side, come back on the other. Only your own body can end the run, and records are kept separately.

Controls

Computer

• Arrow keys or W A S D: steer. The first arrow key starts the game.
• Space or P: pause and resume.
• Enter or Space after a crash: play again.
• The fullscreen button under the board makes the field as large as your screen allows.

Phone and tablet

• Swipe anywhere on the board to turn. You don't have to lift your finger between turns: keep it down and swipe again in the new direction.
• Tap the board to start, or to carry on after a pause.
• The pause button sits at the top right while a run is going.

If you switch to another tab or app, the game pauses itself, so you won't come back to a crashed snake.

Speeds and records

Pick Slow, Normal or Fast in the top bar. The snake moves one square every 220, 160 or 115 milliseconds respectively, and the speed stays the same for the whole run. Changing speed starts a new game.

Your best score is kept separately for each speed, in the browser you played in. A private window or a different device starts from zero, and clearing this site's data resets it.

The highest possible score is 251 apples: the field has 255 squares and the snake already fills four at the start. Fill every square and you win the run.

Tips for a higher score

Hug the walls early. While the snake is short, the danger is small. Use that time to get into the habit of travelling along the edges rather than cutting straight through the middle, so you always have open space to turn into.

Turn early, not late. Your keys are queued, up to two turns ahead. A quick "up, then left" is carried out as two turns on two consecutive squares. That lets you make tight U-turns, but it also means a panicked extra press can take effect one square later than you expected.

Keep your tail in view. The square your tail is leaving is safe to move into on the same step, because the tail moves out as the head moves in. Following your own tail around is the safest way to wait for a better path to the next apple.

Zigzag once the snake is long. Past about 60 apples, the reliable method is to sweep the field in rows: go all the way across, drop one row, come all the way back. It's slower than chasing each apple, but it never traps you. Leave one column free along one side as a return lane.

Start on Slow if you're new. Slow isn't only for beginners. It's the best way to practise the zigzag, and many players set their longest runs there.

Where the snake game comes from

Games built on this idea go back to the 1976 arcade game Blockade by Gremlin, where two players each left a growing trail and tried not to crash into it. The version most people remember came preinstalled on Nokia mobile phones from 1997 onwards, which is where "eat, grow, avoid your tail" became the rules everyone knows. Today a lot of people meet it through the snake game Google shows when you search for it.

This page is our own browser version, built from scratch for this site. It isn't affiliated with Nokia or Google.

More games on the site

If you like quick reflex games, try the Dinosaur Game (Chrome Dino) or test yourself with the reaction time test. For puzzles with more thinking and less hurry, there's Block Blast, the Apple Game and Minesweeper.

Snake Game FAQ

Is this snake game free? Do I need to download anything?

It's free. There's nothing to install and no account to create: it runs right on this page in any modern browser, on a computer or a phone.

How do you play snake on a phone?

Swipe on the board in the direction you want the snake to turn. You can keep your finger down and swipe again for the next turn. Tap the board to start, and use the pause button at the top while a run is going.

What are the controls on a computer?

Arrow keys or W A S D to steer, Space or P to pause, and Enter or Space to play again after a crash. The first arrow key starts the game.

Is this the same as the Google snake game?

It plays the same way and uses the same 17 by 15 field, but it's our own version built for this site and isn't made by Google. You can play it without searching, in fullscreen, and at three speeds.

What is the highest possible score?

251 apples. The field has 255 squares and the snake starts four squares long, so after 251 apples there is no free square left and the run is won.

Why didn't my snake turn when I pressed a key?

The snake can't reverse onto itself, so the opposite direction is ignored. Also, up to two turns wait in line, one per square: if you press three directions very quickly, the third is dropped.

Can the snake go through the walls?

No. Hitting a wall ends the run, just like hitting your own body. Moving into the square your tail is just leaving is safe, though.

My best score disappeared.

Best scores are saved only in the browser you played in, separately for Slow, Normal and Fast. A private window, another browser or another device starts from zero, and clearing this site's data erases them.

How do I turn the sound off?

Use the speaker button at the top right of the game. The setting is remembered in your browser for next time.