Play the classic snake game online
This snake game is the arcade classic many people first played on a 1990s mobile phone: steer a snake around the board, eat food to grow longer, and avoid crashing into the walls or your own tail. The longer you survive, the harder it gets, because your own body fills the board.
This version adds a few modern touches without changing the feel of the original: smooth movement between grid squares, five speed levels, a wrap-around mode with the walls switched off, an obstacle mode with randomly placed blocks, golden bonus food worth extra points, and a best score saved separately for every combination of settings.
It works with the arrow keys or W A S D on a computer and with swipes or the on-screen arrow pad on a phone or tablet. It runs entirely in your browser and pauses itself when you switch tabs.
How to use the Snake Game
- Choose a Speed from 1 (relaxed) to 5 (insane), and decide whether Walls are on and whether you want Obstacles.
- Press Start game, Space, or simply an arrow key. The snake starts moving to the right.
- Steer with the arrow keys or W A S D. On touch screens, swipe on the board or use the arrow pad below it.
- Eat the red food to grow by one square and score 10 points. After every fifth food a golden star appears for a short time — the sooner you reach it, the more it is worth.
- Press Space or P to pause. When the game ends, press Play again; your best score for the current settings is shown next to your score.
Snake Game features
Smooth movement
The game logic moves in whole squares at a fixed rate, but the snake is drawn between squares on every screen refresh, so it glides instead of jumping.
Responsive controls
Up to two turns are buffered, so a quick “up then left” is never lost between steps, and reversing straight into yourself is ignored rather than fatal.
Walls on or off
With walls on, touching the edge ends the game. With walls off, the snake leaves one side and comes back on the opposite side.
Obstacle mode
Six short barriers are placed at random, never on the starting row, so every game has a different maze to work around.
Bonus food and particles
A golden star with a shrinking timer ring is worth 21–50 points and two extra squares of length; every meal bursts into small particles.
Fair pausing and saved bests
The game pauses when the tab is hidden or the window loses focus. Best scores are kept on your device for each speed, wall and obstacle setting.
Scoring
Speeds run from 190 ms per step at level 1 to 60 ms per step at level 5. Scores are not multiplied by speed, which is why each speed keeps its own best score.
| Event | Points | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Food (red) | 10 | +1 square |
| Bonus star (after every 5th food, 40 steps to reach it) | 20 + up to 30 for speed, so 21–50 | +2 squares |
| Hitting a wall, an obstacle or your body | Game over | — |
| Filling the whole board | Game over — a perfect game | 400 squares |
Tips for a higher score
- Stay near the edges early on and leave the middle open; you will need the space when the snake is long.
- Move in long, tidy lanes (a zig-zag or spiral) once your snake is longer than about a third of the board width.
- Never trap yourself in a pocket narrower than two squares — you cannot turn round in it.
- Only chase the bonus star when the route is clear; 50 points is not worth a crash.
- With walls off, use the wrap-around to escape a crowded side of the board.
- Following directly behind your own tail is safe: the tail moves out of the way on the same step.
A short history of snake
The idea dates back to the 1976 arcade game Blockade, where two players left trails behind them. Versions for home computers followed in the 1980s, and the game became world-famous when it was pre-installed on mobile phones from 1997. If you like quick reflex games, also try the reaction time test, the sliding 2048 game or classic minesweeper.
Snake Game FAQ
How do I play the snake game on a phone?
Swipe on the board in the direction you want to turn, or use the four arrow buttons below the board. A short tap on the board starts or resumes the game.
Why did my snake not turn?
You cannot reverse straight back into yourself, so pressing the opposite direction is ignored. Turns are also limited to one per step, with up to two queued.
Does the game save my high score?
Yes. Your best score is stored in your browser for each combination of speed, walls and obstacles. Clear best removes them.
What does turning the walls off do?
The edges stop being deadly: leaving the board on the right brings you back on the left, and the same for top and bottom.
Is the snake game free and safe to play?
Yes. It is free, needs no download or account, and has no adverts inside the game. Sound effects only play after you start a game and can be switched off.
Why does the game pause by itself?
It pauses when you switch to another tab or window so you never lose a game while you are away. Press Resume, Space or P to continue.