Snake Squad is one of Snapchats new game features. While very frustrating at times, it really is quite addictive! In this game you move through space, shaped as a snake, and the goal is to collect dots and grow.
As you know, I hardly ever post about games and technology but this time, I couldn’t help myself as this game takes up quite a lot of my free time to be honest. When I first started playing, I got very frustrated and angry because I didn’t quite understand the rules. I thought I just had to collect dots to earn points and length and avoid bumping into other players in order not to get killed. However, I always got super frustrated when another player bumped into me – and somehow I lost? I did not understand at all how this could happen. Although I really loved the game, this almost made me give up. However, I grew to understand the rules and I found out some tips and tricks and after some practicing,
Below you will find the questions that I asked myself when I started playing, along with my experiences and some tips and tricks.
How can I quickly score a lot of points?
The place to be for scoring a lot of points is without a doubt the centre of the red circle. The trick is to capture as many dots as you possibly can. The fastest way to do this, is pick up the dots where another player died. When another player dies, he will disappear, leaving a trail of dots behind. Depending on his length, this can be a LOT of them. Use your speed booster (by tapping on the lightning bolt on the left of the screen) and capture as many of these dots as fast as you can, before another player does.
Secondly, you can actively kill other players to recuperate his dots. The way to do this is by collecting one of the power-ups. (see next question) This power-up will make you invincible for a few seconds. You can move freely through space, moving through other players, without being able to get killed, however YOU can kill other players by making a head-to-head bump-ins. During this boost, other players that have this boost, won’t be able to kill you either.
Where can I find power-ups, how do I capture them and what can I do with these?
Typically you will be more likely to find power-ups in the centre of the game, usually around the planets. These power-ups are shaped as very small green diamonds. You can capture these by moving over them, using a speed booster. If you did not use a speed booster, you will not capture them and simply drive them away.
What boosts exist and how to get them?
Several boosts can be acquired in this game. These are not very common and can be quite hard to find on the map. They will allow you to boost your abilities and are usually visualised as a very small bubble with a leaf/fire (depending on the boost) in them. The easiest way to get a boost is by killing a boosted player, as you will then be able to pick up his boost, alongside the dots trail that he will leave behind.
Head to head encounters: how to win?
You can only win in head-to-head encounters when you are powered-up (and the other player is not). The power-ups are shaped as very small green diamonds and can be found in the playing field, usually more often around the planets in the centre of the game.
Can you play this game together with your friends?
Yes, of course you can. If you create a group chat and enter the game via this chat, you will all play together and be part of the same team. You can play together with up to 5 friends. This means that you cannot kill each other and that your snakes can move through each other. Another big advantage is that you can work together to trap other players by forming a circle together out of which your opponent can no longer escape.
And to top it up, here are some tips and tricks from my experience in playing this game:
1. Start calmly
My first tip for new players would be to take a calm start. If your initial spawn location was somewhere in the middle of the game, try to manoeuvre to the sides of the player board. The player board is shaped as a big red circle and you can see your location in the circle on the map in the top right corner, along with the direction you’re headed to. On the side-lines of the game, you will more often encounter smaller players that are a lot easier to take down than the larger players that you will typically find more in the centre of the game. True, less dots are to be collected here than in the centre so your evolution in the game will be slower but if you spend some time on the side-lines of the game, you will also grow at a decent pace and gain some experience that will help you tackle the more complicated and crowded centre of the game.
2. Spawn location
If you spawn in the middle of another player’s snake or you are trapped from the start, act quickly. The first seconds after you spawn, you will notice that your snake is still “transparent”. During this time, you can manoeuvre through other player’s snakes (without dying). So use this advantage to get out of there as soon as possible.
If you are playing alongside one (or more) friend(s) (you can do this by starting a groupchat), you will spawn at the same location. If your friend dies and respawns, he will respawn at your location.
3. Avoid boosted players
Players that have captured the green diamond boost are invincible. They will try to bump into you head-to-head. If this happens, you will get killed, so avoid these encounters at all cost. You can recognize these players by their speed (they will be faster than the usual non-boosted players) and they will leave a trail of little stars behind. Use your speed booster to move away from them and make very erratic and short movements in all different directions to make it harder for them to bump into your head. It’s quite stressful to get away from these players but keep in mind that these boosts only last for a few seconds so hang in there.
4. Avoid getting trapped
If you circle around in the same location for too long, you might see another player headed in your direction, often using his speed bonus, trying to make a big circle around you. If this player manages to close the circle around you, you will be trapped and will be forced to move around in this small circle until he either manages to make you bump into him (and kill you) or until you are fed up with it and you bump into him on purpose (basically this is snake suicide) to respawn somewhere else and resume playing. It’s hard to avoid getting trapped when you still are a very small snake, the only thing you can do is use your speed bonus and try to get away from this player. If you already have a decent length, it’s best not to make small circles on the board but to make quite big and long movements, leaving bigger trails behind that are more difficult to trap.
Well, I hope this article helps you in your future game playing, enjoy!
