snake4

snake4 [-hHV] [-M file]

snake4 is a terminal-based implementation of the classic snake game for Unix/X11 systems. Players control a snake that grows longer by eating food while avoiding obstacles, walls, and its own tail.The game features multiple difficulty levels, a hostile enemy called "the evil headbanger," and power-ups. Slim-pills shorten the snake and award bonus points. Food that blinks indicates it is rotting and becomes poisonous if eaten. A site-wide high score file tracks the top 200 players.

-h, --help

Display usage message and exit

Display the high score list and exit

Display version information and exit

Merge a separate high score file into the default (admin only)

Arrow keys

Navigate the snake (up, down, left, right)

Select game level

Pause/unpause game

Quit game

High score file is shared system-wide, with one entry per user. Merging high scores requires administrative privileges. The game requires a terminal with arrow key support. X11 toolkit options are also accepted.

snake4 is part of the BSD games collection, providing classic Unix entertainment software. The snake game genre dates back to the 1970s arcade games and gained widespread popularity through mobile phone implementations. snake4 brings this classic gameplay to the Unix terminal environment.

nsnake(6), bsdgames(6), nethack(6)