The full guide: the goal, controls, eating food and growing, speed-up, how not to crash into the wall and your tail, two-player mode, controls on muta.pro and tips for beginners. Read it — and jump straight into the game.
Snake is a classic arcade game in which you steer a growing snake around an enclosed field. Your task is to eat the food that appears and score points, all while avoiding crashing into the wall and running into your own tail. The more food you eat, the longer and less nimble the snake becomes — and the harder it is to avoid your own body. In single-player mode the goal is to beat your high score; in two-player mode, to outlive your opponent.
The game is played on a rectangular grid of cells. At the start the snake is short — just a few segments — and immediately begins crawling in the chosen direction. One piece of food appears on the field; the moment it is eaten, a new one instantly springs up in a random spot. The snake never stops for a second, so you have to steer on the move.
The snake crawls on its own without stopping. You only set the direction of the turn — up, down, left or right.
Guide the head onto the food to eat it and earn points. After each piece a new one appears on the field.
With every piece of food eaten the snake grows by one segment. A long tail is your biggest danger to yourself.
Hitting the wall or your own tail with the head ends the game. You cannot turn 180° — only turn to the side.
Growth and speed. The longer the snake gets, the higher the risk of boxing yourself into a corner with your own body. On many levels the pace of the game gradually speeds up as you score, so you have to react faster and faster. Plan your route a couple of steps ahead and leave yourself escape routes so you don't end up trapped by your own tail.
Two-player mode. Two snakes crawl across a single field, each controlled by its own player. Whoever crashes first loses — into the wall, into their own tail or into the opponent's body. The winning snake is the one that lasts longer or scores more points. This turns a calm arcade game into a nervy race for space.
Move along the walls and around the perimeter — that leaves free space in the centre for manoeuvring.
A long tail makes it easy to surround yourself. Always leave a way out of the zone you're crawling into.
Turn early: at high speed a sharp turn right at the wall often ends in a crash.
If food appears in a dangerous corner, sometimes it's better to make a loop and wait for the next one.
A high score in Snake is not about reflexes but about your route. Experienced players don't chase the food — they decide in advance which path will sweep the whole field so the body never cuts off the way to the next bite. The key trick is the "boustrophedon": the snake literally snakes, crawling over the field row by row back and forth, the way a plough turns furrows.
While the snake is short, crawl right along the edge of the field. A wall is one safe side: your body can't surround you from where you can no longer crash.
Cover the field row by row: down one column, turn, up the next. That way you cover every cell and always know where your tail is.
With a long body keep one free "lane" along the perimeter — the tail will retreat along it, freeing up cells while the head eats.
Boustrophedon: the snake passes over the field furrow by furrow back and forth and covers the food (🍎) without locking itself in.
Once the snake takes up half the field, a simple "hug the walls" is no longer enough — you need to manage the free space. The key idea: think not about where the head is crawling, but about whether the field will stay connected — whether you'll still be able to reach any empty cell afterwards without running into your tail.
With a long body, coil into a spiral toward the centre and unwind outward. That packs the tail tightly without leaving pocket traps.
The tail shortens by exactly the cell you passed long ago with every step. A one-row-wide passage is safe if the tail clears the exit in time.
A line of body across the whole field divides the space into two parts. Food in the cut-off half becomes unreachable — avoid such "walls" made of yourself.
Spiral: the body is coiled tightly, the head (◉) runs along the outer loop — the field stays connected and the food is reachable.
Behind the classic Snake hide several different games — they change not the rules but how you keep the pace. Understanding the mode tells you what to play for: for a long life, for scoring speed, or for surviving against an opponent.
A calm mode aiming for maximum points. Here patience wins: a careful boustrophedon almost always beats a chaotic chase for food.
The pace rises with the score. Turn early — at high speed a decision right at the wall is late by a whole cell.
Two snakes, one shared space. The tactic is to cut off your opponent's room with your body and force them to crash, while you stay near the wall.
In a duel it matters less to eat the food first than to deny the opponent free cells. Take the centre — it divides the field in your favour.
Don't cross the other head's course up close: at equal speed a head-on approach almost always ends in your crash into the other body.
Almost every loss in Snake is not bad luck but one of a few recurring blunders. Sort them out — and your average game length will double before you even touch any "technique".
Trap: the head (◉) is locked in a pocket of its own body — there's no way out, a sure loss.