Play Google Snake Game
Quick Facts
- Summary
- Steer the snake through a 60-second Chinese New Year Doodle, grabbing festive treats as the speed changes.
- Creator
- Launched
- 2013-02-10
- Status
- Active
(Enhanced by elgooG)
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The Original Version
How It Started
Google made this Snake game for Chinese New Year in 2013, to celebrate the Year of the Snake. The holiday Doodle brought the classic mobile-phone game to the browser, with festive pictures and music. You can read more about it on the official Doodle page.
What It Did
The Doodle dressed up classic Snake for the Lunar New Year. You steered the snake around the grid, picked up lucky items like dumplings, tea, coins, gold ingots, red envelopes, paper cuts, and lantern letters, and tried to keep your score going up before the timer ran out.
Some items changed the speed. A firecracker could make the snake rush ahead, tea could slow things down, medicine could speed things up, and collecting lantern letters in certain sequences could trigger extra items or patterns.
Impact and Reach
The Doodle paired the familiar Snake format with Lunar New Year imagery, including food, red envelopes, and lanterns. Its timed round and item effects gave the holiday version its own rules.
What’s Enhanced Here
The original was made for computer screens in 2013, and it had no dark mode. We added swipe controls, layouts that fit phones and tablets, and a dark theme.
The Enhanced Experience
What’s Different Here
The 60-second round, holiday items, and music follow the original Doodle. Here, the game fits smaller screens and responds to swipes on phones and tablets. You can also switch the page to a dark theme while keeping the same timed challenge.
The Easter Egg Experience
Click the button above to open the Doodle. After the intro, select its play icon and wait for the control demo to finish. Use the arrow keys or WASD on a computer, or swipe on a phone or tablet, to begin steering.
You have 60 seconds to collect holiday items and build your score, with some pickups changing the snake’s speed along the way. You can also switch the page to a dark theme.
How to Try It
- Click the button above to open the enhanced Google Snake Doodle.
- After the intro, select the play icon inside the Doodle.
- Once the control demo finishes, use the arrow keys or WASD on a computer, or swipe on a phone or tablet, to begin steering.
- Collect lucky treats, coins, red envelopes, and lantern letters while the timer counts down.
- Replay the round to improve your score or try different item effects.
The food, red envelopes, paper cuts, lanterns, and music reflect the 2013 Year of the Snake celebration.
This is separate from Google Maps Snake, the 2019 game with trains and city-themed grid boards.
Final Thoughts
The Year of the Snake celebration plays out in a one-minute race for points. As holiday items change the snake’s speed, each round asks you to adjust your steering before the timer runs out.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the Google Snake game?
This Google Snake game is the interactive Doodle released on February 10, 2013, for the Year of the Snake. Its 60-second rounds combine Snake controls with holiday items, music, and changing speeds.
How do you play the Google Snake game?
Click the button above to open the Doodle, then select its play icon after the intro. Once the control demo finishes, use the arrow keys or WASD to steer up, down, left, or right. On a phone or tablet, swipe to change direction.
Collect holiday items and adjust to pickups that change the snake’s speed or trigger other effects. Aim for the highest score within the 60-second limit.
