A glowing snake game on a black mirror floor.
Serpent is the snake game, rebuilt for today. Guide a bioluminescent creature across a polished obsidian arena, eat glowing orbs to grow longer, and never run into a wall or your own tail. The longer you get, the faster you move and the harder it is to find room.
Movement glides smoothly between cells instead of jerking from square to square, turns you press early are buffered so nothing gets lost, and a single forgiving step gives last-moment turns a fair chance. Eat orbs in quick succession to build a multiplier up to ×5, and chase the golden orbs that appear for a few seconds before vanishing.
How to play
- Steer with the arrow keys or WASD, swipe on a touch screen, or use the D-pad or stick on a gamepad. The serpent keeps moving forward on its own.
- Eat the magenta orbs to grow by one segment and score points. Golden orbs are worth five times as much and add three segments, but they disappear after a few seconds.
- Eating orbs quickly one after another raises your combo multiplier, up to ×5. Wait too long and it resets.
- The run ends if you hit a wall or your own body. In Wraparound mode the edges connect, so leaving one side brings you back on the other.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Touch | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steer | Arrow keys or WASD | Swipe in any direction | D-pad / left stick |
| Turn left / right (relative) | Q / E | – | LB / RB |
| Pause / restart | Esc / R | Pause button | Start / Back |
Every action can be remapped in Settings.
Modes
- Classic
- Walls are deadly. Eat, grow, survive.
- Wraparound
- No walls: leave one edge and reappear on the other.
- Portals
- Two pairs of rings warp you across the arena.
- Maze
- Obsidian walls carve the arena into lanes.
- Daily Maze Daily
- Today's maze and food sequence, the same for everyone.
Tips & strategy
- Stay near the edges early and keep the middle open. A long body is easiest to manage when you sweep in wide, tidy loops.
- Plan your exit before you go for an orb tucked into a corner or between your own coils.
- Turns can be queued: press two directions quickly to make a tight U-turn without overshooting.
- Golden orbs are worth chasing only if the route back is safe. Their timer ring shows how long you have.
- In Portals mode, use the rings to cut across the arena and escape when your tail is closing in.
- Relative turning (Q/E or the shoulder buttons) is easier for some players at high speed, since you think in terms of your own left and right.
Achievements
- Growing UpReach a length of 25Locked
- Long StoryReach a length of 50Locked
- OuroborosReach a length of 100Locked
- Feeding FrenzyHit the ×5 multiplierLocked
- Gold RushEat 5 golden orbs in one runLocked
- Ring RunnerTravel through 20 portals in one runLocked
- Around the WorldWrap across the edges 50 times in one runLocked
- Labyrinth RunnerScore 500 in Maze or Daily MazeLocked
- Close CallDodge a crash with a last-moment turnLocked
A short history of the genre
Snake games began in arcades in the late 1970s with two-player trail games where each player left a growing wall behind them. Through the 1980s home computers spread single-player versions where you grew longer by eating, and in the late 1990s the idea reached hundreds of millions of people pre-installed on mobile phones.
The rules have stayed almost untouched because they are perfect: one button per direction, one way to win, and a challenge that grows naturally as you succeed. Modern takes add smooth movement, combo scoring and new arena rules like portals and wraparound, which Serpent brings together.
FAQ
Is Serpent free to play?
Yes. Serpent is free in your browser with no download or account. Ads never cover the game.
How do I play on my phone?
Swipe in the direction you want to go. Turn your phone sideways for the biggest arena.
Why didn't I crash when I touched the wall?
Serpent gives you one step of grace when you're about to crash, so a turn pressed a fraction too late still counts. If you don't turn during that moment, the run ends.
What is the Daily Maze?
A maze layout and orb sequence generated from today's date, so every player gets the same challenge. It changes at midnight UTC, and your best score of the day can be shared.
How does the combo multiplier work?
Each orb eaten within 3.5 seconds of the previous one raises the multiplier by one, up to ×5. The bar under the multiplier shows how long you have left.
Can I remap the controls?
Yes, on the Settings page under Controls. Keyboard and gamepad bindings can both be changed.
Updates
- Serpent launched with Classic, Wraparound, Portals, Maze and the Daily Maze.
