Snake Escape

1. Choose Classic on the main menu, then pick a board.
2. Wait for the countdown, then steer with the arrow pad below the board.
3. Guide the snake to each apple to grow one piece longer and raise your score.
4. Do not run into your own body, because that ends the round.
5. Leave yourself open space before turning, especially once the snake is long.
6. Collect coins to unlock the other boards, and try Escape mode once you know the controls.

Snake Escape brings back the snake game many people first played on an old mobile phone, with brighter graphics and a few extras. The main menu offers two modes, Classic and Escape. Classic is the familiar version: your snake moves across a grid inside a leafy frame, an apple appears somewhere on the board, and every apple you eat makes the snake one piece longer. The snake never stops moving, so the only thing you control is its direction. As it grows, the free space shrinks and every turn needs a little more planning.

A round starts with a short countdown, which gives you a moment to look at the board before the snake sets off. You steer with the four-way arrow pad under the board, which works with a tap on a phone or a click on a computer, and a pause button sits next to it. Two counters keep track of your score and the coins you collect. Your best result is saved on the board selection screen, where three more boards wait to be unlocked for 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 coins. That gives every run a purpose beyond the high score.

Escape is the game's second mode, worth trying once you are comfortable steering in Classic. Its tall, portrait screen makes Snake Escape one of the easiest snake games here to play on a small phone, and it works just as well on a desktop. There is nothing to pay for and nothing to install.