SNAKE(6)SNAKE(6)NAME
snake, snscore - display chase game
SYNOPSISsnake [ -w width ] [ -l length ]
snscore
DESCRIPTION
Snake is a display-based game which must be played on a
CRT terminal. The object of the game is to make as much
money as possible without getting eaten by the snake. The
-l and -w options allow you to specify the length and
width of the field. By default the entire screen (except
for the last column) is used.
You are represented on the screen by an I. The snake is 6
squares long and is represented by S's. The money is $,
and an exit is #. Your score is posted in the upper left
hand corner.
You can move around using the same conventions as vi(1),
the h, j, k, and l keys work, as do the arrow keys. Other
possibilities include:
sefc These keys are like hjkl but form a directed pad
around the d key.
HJKL These keys move you all the way in the indicated
direction to the same row or column as the money.
This does not let you jump away from the snake, but
rather saves you from having to type a key repeat-
edly. The snake still gets all his turns.
SEFC Likewise for the upper case versions on the left.
ATPB These keys move you to the four edges of the
screen. Their position on the keyboard is the
mnemonic, e.g. P is at the far right of the key-
board.
x This lets you quit the game at any time.
p Points in a direction you might want to go.
w Space warp to get out of tight squeezes, at a
price.
To earn money, move to the same square the money is on. A
new $ will appear when you earn the current one. As you
get richer, the snake gets hungrier. To leave the game,
move to the exit (#).
A record is kept of the personal best score of each
player. Scores are only counted if you leave at the exit,
May 31, 1993 1
SNAKE(6)SNAKE(6)
getting eaten by the snake is worth nothing.
As in pinball, matching the last digit of your score to
the number which appears after the game is worth a bonus.
To see who wastes time playing snake, run snscore .
FILES
/usr/games/lib/snakerawscores database of personal bests
/usr/games/lib/snake.log log of games played
BUGS
When playing on a small screen, it's hard to tell when you
hit the edge of the screen.
The scoring function takes into account the size of the
screen. A perfect function to do this equitably has not
been devised.
May 31, 1993 2