Candy Trail
Grow your gummy snake, never bump into another
How to play
Candy Trail is a free arena snake game online: steer a gummy snake around a round candy arena, eat sweets to grow longer, and make the computer snakes crash into your body. It plays in any browser on phone or desktop and inside Telegram via @MatsuriGamesBot, with no download and no sign-up, in runs of three minutes.
Candy Trail is a cute arena snake game you play with one thumb. Your gummy snake slides around a round candy arena with seventeen computer snakes, each a chain of soft gummy beads with a little face. Drag anywhere on the screen to steer (on a computer, the snake heads for the mouse, or use the arrow keys); eat the candy beads scattered on the floor to grow longer and thicker. Hold a second finger, the boost button, the mouse button or Space to speed up: boosting spends a little of your length and leaves it behind as candy. If your head touches another snake's body you burst into candy, and so do they if their head touches yours, so a long snake can cut in front of a small one or circle it. The rim of the arena bursts you too. Some snakes are easy-going, some hunt, and big ones try to curl round smaller ones. A run lasts three minutes; your score is your length at the end plus 25 for every snake that crashed into you. The daily arena is the same for everyone, so the leaderboard is fair.
- Move the mouse and your snake follows it (or use the arrow keys or WASD). Eat the candy beads on the floor to grow longer and thicker.
- Hold a mouse button, Space or Shift to boost: you move faster, but it spends a little length and drops it behind you as candy. You can't boost below length 16.
- Your head touching another snake's body bursts you; their head touching yours bursts them. The arena's rim bursts you too. The run ends after three minutes: your score is your length plus 25 for every snake that crashed into you.
How to play Candy Trail
You start as a short gummy snake, a chain of soft beads with a little face, in a round arena with seventeen computer snakes and candy beads scattered on the floor. On a phone, drag anywhere on the screen and a floating thumb stick steers the snake. On a computer the snake heads for the mouse pointer, or you can use the arrow keys or WASD. A small map in the bottom-left corner shows where everyone is, and the clock is at the top.
Eat candy beads to grow longer and thicker. Hold a second finger, the round boost button at the bottom right, a mouse button, Space or Shift to boost: you move faster, but it spends a little of your length and drops it behind you as candy, and you cannot boost below length 16.
If your head touches another snake's body, you burst into candy and your run is over. If another snake's head touches your body, that snake bursts, and it counts as yours. The rim of the arena bursts you too. A burst snake leaves its whole body behind as candy for anyone to eat.
A run always ends by itself after three minutes. Your score is your length at the end, or at the moment you burst, plus 25 for each snake that crashed into your body. Every 20 points give one candy coin, up to 40 coins.
Candy Trail strategy and tips
- Use the quiet first twenty seconds. For that long no snake hunts you, so eat as fast as you can and grow before the hunters wake up; a longer snake is also harder to bully later.
- Cut in front, do not chase. A snake that follows another one's tail never catches it, but a smaller snake whose head you swing across will run straight into your side. Turn across its path and let it bump.
- Boost in short bursts. Boosting spends length, so use it to cut in front of someone or to get out of a squeeze, then let go. Keep your length above 16 so the option is always there.
- Hurry to every crash. A burst snake leaves a whole pile of candy, and the biggest piles are worth a dozen small beads. Come in from the side, eat what you can and leave before the crowd closes in.
- Watch the map and the rim. The edge of the arena bursts you, and big snakes like to curl round smaller ones, so do not swim into the middle of a coil; leave through the gap while it is still open.
Modes and difficulty
The daily arena is the same for everyone and changes at 00:00 UTC, with the same snakes and the same candy; only your first daily run counts on its leaderboard. Practice lays out a fresh arena whenever you like, and your best practice score goes on the all-time board. After a run you can send it as a challenge: your friend plays the same arena with your score as the target.
Playing Candy Trail on Matsuri
The computer snakes come in three kinds: some are easy-going and just eat, some hunt and cut in front of smaller snakes, and the big ones curl around the small ones. For the first twenty seconds nobody hunts you. There is no online multiplayer, so there is no lag and no waiting for other players. The seed of the run lays out the snakes and the candy, so the server replays your steering to check the score.
A little history
Snake games go back to the arcades of the 1970s and to the first mobile phones, where one snake grew longer inside a small box. In the 2010s the idea moved into big shared arenas with many snakes, where the other snakes are the danger instead of the walls, and it became a browser and phone favourite. In Japan people look for it as the snake game (スネークゲーム), in Russia as zmeyka, and in Spanish-speaking countries as the juego de la serpiente.
In the same series: Action games
- Candy Survivors: Just keep moving, your weapons fire on their own
- Candy Defense: Help me guard the counter from candy thieves
- Café Rush: Brew, top and serve before the regulars lose patience
- Mocha's Cake Tower: Tap on the beat, stack my cake to the sky
- Sweet Swirl: Swallow the town, from sweets to the cake tower
Update log
- · Candy Trail arrives: an arena snake game with seventeen computer snakes, three-minute runs and a daily arena.
Questions
- Is Candy Trail free to play online?
- Yes. It is free with no ads, no download and no sign-up, in any browser on phone or desktop and inside Telegram through @MatsuriGamesBot. Drag anywhere on the screen to steer; on a computer the snake follows the mouse.
- Why did my snake burst?
- A snake bursts when its head touches another snake's body or the rim of the arena. Big snakes also curl around small ones, so leave through the gap before a loop closes. For the first twenty seconds nobody hunts you.
- How do I make the other snakes crash, and when should I boost?
- Swing across in front of a smaller snake's head so that it runs into your body; when its head touches you it bursts, and you get 25 points. Hold a second finger, the boost button, a mouse button, Space or Shift to boost: it is faster but spends a little length, dropped behind as candy, and you can't boost below length 16.
- How is the score counted?
- Your length at the end of the three minutes, or at the moment you burst, plus 25 for each snake that crashed into your body. Every 20 points give a candy coin, up to 40. The daily arena is the same for everyone, and the server replays your steering to check the score.