Guide ยท ๐
How to Play Snake: Tail Discipline, Wall Routing and Speed Control
Written by Lin ยท Updated 2026-10-27 ยท 1 min read
Snake grows with every fruit and every inch of growth steals a little steering room. The game ends by wall, by body, or by the trap you built yourself three fruits ago.
Steps
- 1
Always keep your tail free
Your tail moves out of the way each turn; your body does not. Before any turn, know where your tail tip will be - the square it vacates is the only guaranteed escape square on the board.
- 2
Walls are a train track
Long straight runs along walls are safe and efficient: the wall halves your worry, because the worst possible turn becomes a parallel run instead of a dead end.
- 3
The self-trap spiral
The classic death is following your own body inward in a spiral. When circling, circle with wide arcs - tight spirals only shrink the room you will need in four fruits.
- 4
Speed is the real difficulty
Every fruit adds length and pace. Late game, prefer short safe hops over long risky stretches; a fruit you eat one turn later is worth exactly as much.
- 5
Corners are for patient snakes
Cutting a corner tightly leaves no margin if a turn arrives early. Enter corners a touch wide, exit a touch wide, and let the tail clean up behind you.
- 6
When the board is crowded
In a full board, follow your own tail at a distance of one - the tail always vacates the square it just left, and that rhythm is a winning metronome. Keep the tail free, ride the walls, and the snake outlives its reputation.
The one rule underneath all others
Before the specifics, the frame that holds {t} together.
Routing
Everything under this heading rests on the points below.
Speed control
Here is the short version first, then each idea unpacked.
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