Play Snake Game Online
Eat apples, grow longer · Works on mobile & desktop · No download
Snake is one of the most iconic video games ever made, made famous on early mobile phones. You guide a hungry snake around the board, eating apples to grow longer. The catch: the longer you get, the harder it is to avoid crashing into the walls or your own tail. Our version adds golden apples worth five points and gets faster as your score climbs.
Snake is free to play on PlayQuestHQ with no download and no sign-up. It works on phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.
Click the game, then steer with the arrow keys or W A S D. Swipe on mobile. P pauses. Golden apples are worth 5!
How to Play Snake
- Click the game, then use the arrow keys or W A S D to steer. On mobile, swipe or use the on-screen arrows.
- Eat red apples to grow and score a point each.
- Golden apples appear for a few seconds and are worth 5 points.
- Do not hit the walls or your own tail. The snake speeds up as you score.
- Press P to pause.
Controls
Arrow keys or W A S D to steer. P to pause.
Swipe on the board or use the on-screen arrow buttons.
Tips to Win
- Stay near the edges early on to keep the middle open.
- Plan a path to the apple before you turn.
- Golden apples disappear after a few seconds. Grab them quickly.
- When you are long, move in loops so your tail clears space for you.
Snake Rules at a Glance
Snake has one goal and two ways to lose. Eat food to grow longer and score points, and the run ends when the head hits a wall or your own tail.
| Goal | Grow as long as you can and score as many points as you can |
|---|---|
| Food | Each piece you eat makes the snake longer |
| Golden apples | Worth 5 points each. Eat them whenever the path to them is safe |
| Walls | Solid. Touching any edge of the board ends the game |
| Your tail | Touching any part of your own body also ends the game |
| Speed | The snake speeds up as your score climbs |
The snake never stops moving, so you only steer. Plan each turn a little early, because at higher speed there is no time to correct a late turn.
Snake Strategy for Long Runs
Once your snake is long, the safest plan is to sweep the board in rows, like mowing a lawn, so your body always forms neat lines and leaves a clear path back. Avoid cutting through the middle of the board, because that splits the free space into two pockets and one of them can trap you. If an apple appears in a tight spot, go around and approach it from the open side.
Common Snake Mistakes That End a Run
Most Snake runs end early for the same few reasons. Chasing food into a trap is the most common, with leaving no escape route and turning too late close behind.
- Chasing food into a tight spot: food inside a loop of your own tail can wait. Take it only when the way out is still open, or leave it and come back when your tail has moved on.
- Leaving no escape route: before you turn, check that you can turn again. A path with no second turn is a trap, however short it looks.
- Turning too late at speed: the snake speeds up as you score, so a corner you took easily at the start needs an earlier turn later on.
- Watching the food, not the head: your eyes belong on the head and the space just ahead of it. The food is not going anywhere.
Snake Versions Explained: Classic, Google Snake and Snake.io
Classic Snake is a single player game on a closed board, and it is the version on this page. Google Snake and the .io games change the formula in different ways, which is why their rules feel different.
- Classic Snake: one snake, solid walls, food that makes you longer and golden apples worth 5 points. The Nokia phone games made this version famous, and it is still the purest test of planning ahead.
- Google Snake: a browser version with a settings panel. Settings can change the speed and turn the walls into portals, so the same board plays in several different ways.
- Snake.io and Slither.io: multiplayer arena games. You share a large arena with other snakes, eat glowing orbs to grow, and win ground by making rival snakes crash into you.
A Short History of Snake
The idea behind Snake comes from the 1976 arcade game Blockade, where two players steered growing lines and tried to make the other crash. The game became world famous in the late 1990s when it came preinstalled on millions of mobile phones, and it has been remade countless times since. Our version keeps the simple rules and adds golden apples worth 5 points.
Good to Know
How do you get a high score in Snake?
You get a high score in Snake by eating golden apples whenever it is safe and by staying alive as your speed rises. Each golden apple is worth 5 points, and tidy loops keep your tail in neat lines so it never blocks your next turn.
Can the snake go through walls?
No, the snake cannot go through walls in this version. The walls are solid, so touching any edge of the board ends the game, just like touching your own tail.
Why does the snake get faster?
The snake gets faster because the speed rises as your score climbs. The rise keeps the game exciting and stops long runs from becoming too easy, so plan turns earlier the longer you play.
Can you win a game of Snake?
You win Snake only when the board has no room left for the snake to grow. Almost every game ends earlier, when the head hits a wall or the tail, so players treat score and length as the real target rather than a finish line.
Is this the Nokia snake game?
No, this is not the Nokia snake game, but it follows the same classic rules. Snake became world famous on Nokia phones in the late 1990s, and this browser version keeps the solid walls, the growing tail and the rising speed that made the phone game so hard to put down.
Is my Snake progress saved?
Your best scores are saved in your own browser on this device. Clearing your browser data will reset them.