Snake (video game genre)
A genre of growing-line action games originating in 1976.
Snake is a type of action video game in which a player controls the tip of an ever-lengthening line, frequently depicted as a snake. The objective is to avoid crashing into walls or the snake’s own body, a challenge that grows as the line gets longer. The genre traces back to the 1976 two-player arcade game *Blockade* by Gremlin Industries, where the goal was to outlast an opponent. Early clones were abstract and didn’t use snake imagery. Over time, single-player versions emerged: a snake with a head and tail grows longer by eating items like apples or eggs, increasing the risk of self-collision. The genre’s simplicity and low hardware demands led to hundreds of variations, some with “snake” or “worm” in their titles. The 1982 *Tron* arcade game included snake-style gameplay in its Light Cycles segment, and later games borrowed that theme. Interest surged after a version simply called *Snake* came preloaded on Nokia phones in 1998.
In the original *Blockade* and its many clones, two players each control a snake from a top-down view. The snake’s head moves forward continuously and cannot stop, while the body grows. Players steer left, right, up, and down to avoid walls and the other snake’s body; the last one alive wins. Single-player versions are less common and often pit the player against computer-controlled snakes, as in *Tron*’s Light Cycles. In the typical single-player game, the snake’s length is fixed, so when the head moves, the tail follows. Eating an item makes the snake longer. *Snake Byte* has the snake eat apples, while *Nibbler* involves eating abstract objects in a maze.
The genre began with *Blockade* (1976), coded by Lane Hauck and Ago Kiss for Gremlin Industries. It was cloned as *Bigfoot Bonkers* that same year. In 1977, Atari released two inspired games: the arcade *Dominos* and the Atari VCS title *Surround*, which was one of nine launch titles in the US and sold by Sears as *Chase*. Also in 1977, *Checkmate* appeared for the Bally Astrocade. Mattel’s *Snafu* came out for the Intellivision in 1982. The first known home computer version, *Worm*, was written by Peter Trefonas for the TRS-80 and published by CLOAD magazine in 1978, with later ports for the PET and Apple II. An authorized version of the *Hustle* arcade game—itself a *Blockade* clone—was released by Milton Bradley for the TI-99/4A in 1980. The single-player *Snake Byte* (19
- origin_year
- 1976
- first_game
- Blockade
- original_publisher
- Gremlin Industries
- original_developers
- Lane Hauck and Ago Kiss
- notable_early_clone
- Surround (Atari VCS, 1977)
- famous_mobile_version
- Snake (Nokia, 1998)
- museum_recognition
- Nokia port selected by MoMA in 2012
Lore & Background
The Snake genre began with the 1976 arcade video game Blockade, written by Lane Hauck and Ago Kiss and published by Gremlin Industries. It was cloned as Bigfoot Bonkers the same year. In 1977, Atari released two Blockade-inspired games: the arcade game Dominos and Atari VCS game Surround, which was one of the nine Atari VCS launch titles in the US. That same year, a similar game launched for the Bally Astrocade as Checkmate. The first known home computer version, Worm, was programmed by Peter Trefonas for the TRS-80 and published by CLOAD magazine in 1978. Single-player variants emerged, such as Snake Byte (1982) for Atari 8-bit computers, where a snake eats apples to complete a level, and Nibbler (1982), a single-player arcade game where the snake fits tightly into a maze. The 1982 Tron arcade game included snake gameplay for its single-player Light Cycles segment, reinvigorating the concept.
Reader's Guide
The Snake genre's significance lies in its enduring simplicity and adaptability across decades of gaming hardware. Starting with the two-player competitive Blockade in 1976, the genre evolved into single-player variants where eating food lengthens the snake, increasing the challenge of self-collision. The 1998 Nokia mobile phone version brought Snake to a massive audience, leading to numerous reiterations like Snake II and Snake EX. The genre has been incorporated into Google applications, including a hidden game in YouTube (2010), a Google doodle (2013), and a Google Maps April Fools' prank (2019). In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City announced the Nokia port of Snake as one of 40 games it wished to add to its collection. The genre continues to inspire new games, including online .io variants like Slither.io (2016) and Snake.io, and educational adaptations such as Snakeleev (2025) for learning the periodic table. Its legacy is further cemented by its use in teaching programming with Python and Pygame.
Did You Know?
- The original Blockade was a two-player game where the goal was to survive longer than the other player.
- The first known home computer version of a Snake game was called Worm, programmed for the TRS-80 in 1978.
- In 2019, scientists tested the touch sensibility of GLASSES screen cellphones by playing Snake.
- In 2023, users recreated Snake using GPT-4.
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