Snake Byte
A snake game with apples, plums, and 28 levels.
Snake Byte, a single-player take on the classic snake formula, was programmed by Chuck Sommerville for the Apple II and released by Sirius Software in 1982. That same year, it appeared on Atari 8-bit computers and as a cartridge for the VIC-20, with a Commodore 64 port arriving in 1983.
Players guide a snake into a rectangular play area. The snake starts with three lives, gaining an extra one each time it clears a level. The goal across 28 levels is to eat ten apples per round; if an apple isn't eaten before a time limit, three extra apples must be consumed. Each apple eaten makes the snake longer and faster. Crashing into a fence, the wall, or the snake's own body costs a life. After the last apple is eaten, a gate appears for the snake to exit through. Later levels feature more complex fences, making navigation trickier. Difficulty ramps up sharply, with the final levels leaving almost no room for error. Level 29 loops back to level 1, though the counter keeps going; after enough completions, the display rolls from 99 to 00.
Two control modes are available: two-key (left/right) or four-key (left/right/up/down). Players can also choose to include 0, 1, or 2 bouncing plums, which move around the area and kill the snake if they hit its head.
*Ahoy!* rated the game a B− for graphics and an A for gameplay, calling it "one of the most engaging and challenging programs you can buy" and stating that "you can't hope to do better in terms of entertainment."
- developer
- Chuck Sommerville
- publisher
- Sirius Software
- initial_release
- 1982
- platforms
- Apple II, Atari 8-bit, VIC-20, Commodore 64
- genre
- Single-player snake variant
Quick Facts
- Title
- Snake Byte
- Publisher
- Sirius Software
- Designer
- Chuck Sommerville
- Programmer
- Apple II / Chuck Sommerville / Atari 8-bit / Dan Thompson / VIC-20, C64 / Dan Stanfield
- Released
- 1982: Apple, Atari, VIC-20 / 1983: C64
- Genre
- Snake
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, VIC-20
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The player controls a snake crawling into a rectangular area. At the start the snake has three lives and gains a life when it successfully exits a level. The goal is to eat 10 apples in each of the 28 levels; if an apple is not eaten during the given deadline, three extra apples must be eaten. The snake becomes longer and moves more quickly with each apple eaten, and loses a life when crashing into a fence, the wall, or itself. After the last apple in each round is eaten, the snake must exit through a gate that appears. Higher levels have more complicated fences, making the area trickier to navigate.
Reader's Guide
Snake Byte is notable as an early single-player implementation of the snake concept, released across multiple home computer platforms in the early 1980s. Its 28 levels increase in difficulty, with later levels allowing almost no mistakes. The game offers two control modes (two-key or four-key) and optional bouncing plums that kill the snake on head contact. Level 29 wraps back to level 1, but the counter does not reset; after completing enough levels the display goes from 99 to 00. Ahoy! magazine gave the game a B− for graphics and an A for gameplay, stating it is 'one of the most engaging and challenging programs you can buy.' The game's design—requiring the snake to eat apples, avoid obstacles, and exit through a gate—influenced later snake-style games.
Did You Know?
- Snake Byte was written by Chuck Sommerville for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software in 1982.
- The game has 28 levels, and level 29 wraps back to level 1 without resetting the counter.
- Players can choose between two-key or four-key control modes, and 0, 1, or 2 bouncing plums.
- Ahoy! magazine gave Snake Byte a B− for graphics and an A for gameplay.
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