Snake is Strawberry Studio’s take on the eponymous genre that debuted back in the ‘70s. Strawberry Studio’s Snake hearkens back to the genre’s origins, eschewing a fancier interface and utilizing a darker color scheme to induce a retro feel. Strawberry Studio doesn’t add much to the genre’s core gameplay formula, but it does provide a decent port of the title to Android and offers flexibility in terms of aesthetics that is not found in other apps of the same ilk.
In Snake, players control a “snake” that is initially represented on-screen as a dot, and can maneuver their snakes across the screen in the four cardinal directions. The game’s objective is to “eat” the different colored dots that appear on the game board; doing so causes the snake to become larger (mimicking a snake eating prey). Eventually, the snake will grow so large that it encompasses the entire game board, and at that point the player wins.
While individual playthroughs are not that difficult at the beginning due to the snakes being very small, things get tough rather quickly as the snakes increase in length. This is due to the fact that If the snake touches any portion of its own body, the game ends.
Strawberry Studio’s Snake attempts to differentiate itself from others in its genre by presenting players with a variety of options to customize their playthroughs with. Players can choose to show their snakes and food dots as pixels, to display grid lines on their game boards, mark snake heads, and alter colors. These cosmetic options enhance the overall experience, as it permits players to explore and ultimately settle upon the settings most aesthetically appealing to them.
From a gameplay perspective, Strawberry Studios allows players to change swipe sensitivity, control the speed at which snakes move, change the world size, enforce strict game board boundaries, edit the actual difficulty level, and more. These options will appeal to both newcomers to the genre and experts alike, as players can always find a new challenge no matter what their skill level is.
However, while enabling players to jump right into the game, Snake’s menus look unpolished and the game charges money to unlock additional preset colors and to create colors. Importantly, the game’s controls feel somewhat lacking; a control system that would allow players to change their snakes’ directions more seamlessly would improve the gameplay experience. A gamepad on the screen that allows players to change directions without needing to make strokes with their fingers or press on-screen buttons would be a welcome addition.
Overall, Strawberry Studio’s Snake constitutes a respectable game that is enhanced by the aesthetic and gameplay flexibility it offers. While its menu screens could use some touching up and the fact that some cosmetic options are hidden behind paywalls are negatives, the game gets much more right than wrong. For fans of the classic genre, this adaptation is worth playing.
Rating: 8.5/10
Snake is available to download for Android via Google Play. For more information, please visit: https://www.thestrawberrystudios.com/our-games/snake#h.s67val3iqs21
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Android Review
I'm a recent graduate of Columbia University. Gaming has been a passion of mine my entire life; I enjoy everything from RPGs and FPSs to stealth and narrative-driven games. I love the deeply immersive quality that good video games inherently possess, and am looking forward to highlighting games worthy of acclaim. When I'm not studying or reading, you can catch me playing games like Uncharted, Dishonored, The Witcher 3, and Far Cry.
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