Classic is the snake game you already know: one pellet at a time, one cell longer per bite, and the run ends when the head hits a wall or your own body. Eating is the easy part. Staying alive once you're long is the game. Here's how to do it.
Know the board
The Classic board is 17 cells wide and 24 tall, 408 cells in all. You start 4 cells long in the middle of the lower half, facing up, and the game waits for you to tap the board. Each pellet scores 10, adds a cell and makes you a little faster:
| Pellets eaten | Time per step | Cells a second |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.160 s | 6.3 |
| 10 | 0.135 s | 7.4 |
| 20 | 0.110 s | 9.1 |
| 34 and more | 0.075 s | 13.3 |
So the speed tops out at your 34th pellet. Two stars need a score of 150 (15 pellets) and three need 400 (40 pellets): three stars means playing at full speed with a snake 44 cells long.
Steer early, not hard
Up to two turns wait in line between steps, so a quick swipe up and then right both count. Use that: line up the second turn before you need it, rather than reacting at the last cell. Reversing straight into your own neck is ignored, so a panicked opposite swipe never kills you.
If swiping feels slow, tap instead: tap the side of the head you want to turn towards (above or below a snake moving sideways, left or right of one moving up or down).
Hug the walls while you're short
A short snake can go almost anywhere, so spend the early game learning the rhythm. Go straight for each pellet, but come back along the edge of the board. The walls can't move, so a snake running beside one has only one side to watch.
Sweep in serpentines once you're long
Past about 30 cells, chasing pellets directly starts to cut the board into pockets your body will close. Switch to a pattern that keeps the open space in one piece:
- Serpentine: sweep across the board in rows, turning at each wall: right along one row, down one, left along the next. Your body fills the board in tidy stripes behind you, and the open space stays ahead.
- Spiral: run around the edge, then one ring in, then the next. It's slower to reach pellets but very hard to trap yourself.
Leave a one-cell lane down one side as a way back to the start of the pattern.
Follow your tail
Your tail is always moving out of the way. When you're boxed in, steer towards the end of your own body: the cells it leaves are the safest places on the board. A snake that can always reach its tail can never be trapped.
Spend the revive wisely
Once a game, after a crash, you can revive and keep your score and length. The snake turns somewhere safe and waits for your move. Take a breath, find your tail, and start a fresh serpentine.
When Classic gets comfortable, the other boards bend these rules in new directions. Here's how each one works.