~~ Snake.io ~~

You may have recently found yourself asking something along the lines of, "What is Snake.io?" if you're anything like me in that your understanding of technology is on par with that of someone who is sixty years older. It would appear that everyone has moved on to something else just when you thought you had mastered the popular game Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector (but equally pointless). When I say everyone, I literally mean every single person. Since its release in April, the game has maintained its position at the top of the gaming app charts. At one point, it even surpassed Snapchat to become the free application that was the most downloaded from the App Store. Snake.io is currently ranked sixth on the App Store, which places it higher than apps such as Uber, Pandora, and even Google Maps. Snapchat has since reclaimed its throne atop the App Store, while Snake.io is currently in sixth place.

It is obvious that people are more than a bit preoccupied with Snake.io, which takes us back to the topic we started with: what is Snake.io? According to Tech Crunch, the application takes its inspiration from classic video games such as Atari's Centipede and Snake. The appeal of Snake.io resides in its straightforward gameplay, much like that of its ancestors: players guide a multicolored snake across a black void that is littered with colorful lights. The goal of the game is to consume as many lights as you can, which will cause your snake to get longer as a result. Touching the screen is the only way to move your worm companion about in the mobile app; however, it will follow your cursor in the desktop version.

The catch is... You are being pursued by other worms, and you are also on the hunt for them. If a worm runs into you, they will shatter into glowing lights that you may swiftly consume, but sadly, the same is also true in the opposite direction. When you initially start out, the small size of your worm makes it simple to make sharp turns to sidestep potential collisions. However, as your worm grows in size and width, it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid obstacles. Players that have access to the Internet have the option of competing against an artificial intelligence or against other users who are engaging in the activity at the same time.

Even if you don't aggressively go after other players, they're probably going to come for you. The presence of other snakes adds another element of strategy to the game, regardless of whether you're playing against a bot or a person. Within the first thirty seconds of downloading the game, another player turned to obstruct my route, and I realized what had happened. The next thing I knew, I was watching in horror as the life energy of my shrimpy worm was instantaneously consumed. The game is essentially a jewel-toned, space worm version of Game of Thrones, and a short search on YouTube reveals that people will use aggressive strategies against one another, such as surrounding weaker players and forming alliances to take on larger ones.

Because humans are such a vicious species, competing against real people is noticeably more challenging than doing so against computer programs. This should come as no surprise. The following is how the game appears when it is actually being played:

It's not hard to see why Snake.io is so popular; the game is both never-ending (in principle, you could play endlessly) and goal-oriented; the leader board is updated in real time, so you can watch your username climb up the ranks as you progress through the game and eliminate your opponents. Alternately, depending on how well you play the game, you may find that you are relegated to a lowly position while other people's usernames rise through the ranks, while you are doomed to remain a minuscule worm forever. The second option may not appear to be pleasant, but in reality, it's quite enjoyable.