Snake is one of the most recognised video games ever made — not because it was on home consoles or in arcades, but because it shipped pre-installed on Nokia mobile phones starting in 1998. On the Nokia 3310 alone (released in 2000 and with over 126 million units sold), Snake was almost certainly the most-played game of the decade.
The original Snake concept dates back to 1976, when Gremlin Industries released an arcade game called Blockade. Players controlled a line that grew longer as it moved, and the goal was to force the opponent into a wall or their own trail. The two-player competitive format eventually gave way to a single-player survival format — the version most people know today.
The Nokia implementation by Taneli Armanto (1997) was deliberately designed for the constraints of a small screen and a numeric keypad. The grid was small, the speed progression was gentle, and the game loop was endlessly replayable in short sessions — perfect for killing time between calls. It became a cultural artifact of the late 90s and early 2000s.
This version runs the Nokia aesthetic faithfully: pixel font, green phosphor colour scheme, and a game grid sized for the original screen. The gameplay is identical — eat dots, grow longer, don't collide. Your high score is tracked in your browser session.
Tips for a Higher Score
- Hug the walls early. When the snake is short, move along the perimeter to keep the centre clear for maneuvering.
- Never chase the dot in a straight line. Plan a path that avoids boxing yourself in after you eat it.
- Slow your inputs. Rapid direction changes cause more collisions than slow deliberate ones, especially on a small grid.
- Leave escape routes. Before every turn, confirm you have a way out of the corridor you're entering.