snake4

Start a snake game

$ snake4

$ [<1>|<2>|<3>|<4>|<5>]

$ [<ArrowUp>|<ArrowDown>|<ArrowLeft>|<ArrowRight>]

$ <Space>

$ <q>

$ snake4 --highscores

snake4

snake4 is a classic arcade-style game designed for the Linux terminal. The primary objective is to control a 'snake' that continuously moves across the screen, consuming 'food' items. Each successful consumption of food makes the snake grow longer, increasing the challenge. Players must skillfully navigate the snake to avoid collisions with the game's boundaries (walls) and, crucially, with the snake's own ever-growing body. The game typically utilizes simple text-based graphics, often rendered through libraries like ncurses, to provide an interactive and responsive gameplay experience. It functions as a single-player game, focused on achieving the highest possible score by maximizing the snake's length before an inevitable collision ends the round. Its straightforward mechanics and nostalgic appeal make it a popular, lighthearted utility on Unix-like operating systems.

This command requires a terminal emulator that supports ncurses for proper display and interaction. As a text-based game, it does not offer graphical interface options.
It is designed for single-player use only and generally lacks advanced features such as multiplayer modes, custom level editors, or persistent high score tracking across different sessions.

The snake's movement direction is typically controlled using the standard arrow keys: Up, Down, Left, and Right. The game usually commences immediately upon execution of the snake4 command.
To exit the game at any point, players can generally press the 'q' or 'Q' key.

The concept of the Snake game originated in the 1970s with arcade titles like Blockade, gaining widespread popularity on early home computers and later on mobile phones. The snake4 command, along with many other terminal-based games, represents a common adaptation or re-implementation of this timeless classic for Unix-like systems. It is frequently found as part of broader game packages (like bsdgames on various Linux distributions) or developed as a straightforward C/C++ program to showcase ncurses library functionalities. Its evolution has primarily focused on providing a simple, functional, and enjoyable rendition of the classic game within the confines of a terminal environment.

snake(6), ncurses(3), bsdgames(7), tetris(6), worms(6)