1SNAKE(6)                       BSD Games Manual                       SNAKE(6)
2

NAME

4     snake, snscore — display chase game
5

SYNOPSIS

7     snake [-w width] [-l length] [-t]
8     snscore
9

DESCRIPTION

11     snake is a display-based game which must be played on a CRT terminal.
12     The object of the game is to make as much money as possible without get‐
13     ting eaten by the snake.  The -l and -w options allow you to specify the
14     length and width of the field.  By default the entire screen is used.
15     The -t option makes the game assume you are on a slow terminal.
16
17     You are represented on the screen by an I.  The snake is 6 squares long
18     and is represented by s's with an S at its head.  The money is $, and an
19     exit is #.  Your score is posted in the upper left hand corner.
20
21     You can move around using the same conventions as vi(1), the h, j, k, and
22     l keys work, as do the arrow keys.  Other possibilities include:
23
24     sefc    These keys are like hjkl but form a directed pad around the d
25             key.
26
27     HJKL    These keys move you all the way in the indicated direction to the
28             same row or column as the money.  This does not let you jump away
29             from the snake, but rather saves you from having to type a key
30             repeatedly.  The snake still gets all his turns.
31
32     SEFC    Likewise for the upper case versions on the left.
33
34     ATPB    These keys move you to the four edges of the screen.  Their posi‐
35             tion on the keyboard is the mnemonic, e.g.  P is at the far right
36             of the keyboard.
37
38     x       This lets you quit the game at any time.
39
40     p       Points in a direction you might want to go.
41
42     w       Space warp to get out of tight squeezes, at a price.
43
44     To earn money, move to the same square the money is on.  A new $ will
45     appear when you earn the current one.  As you get richer, the snake gets
46     hungrier.  To leave the game, move to the exit (#).
47
48     A record is kept of the personal best score of each player.  Scores are
49     only counted if you leave at the exit, getting eaten by the snake is
50     worth nothing.
51
52     As in pinball, matching the last digit of your score to the number which
53     appears after the game is worth a bonus.
54
55     To see who wastes time playing snake, run snscore.
56

FILES

58     /var/games//snakerawscores  database of personal bests
59     /var/games//snake.log       log of games played
60

BUGS

62     When playing on a small screen, it's hard to tell when you hit the edge
63     of the screen.
64
65     The scoring function takes into account the size of the screen.  A per‐
66     fect function to do this equitably has not been devised.
67
68BSD                              May 31, 1993                              BSD