The Snake Game is a simple classic retro game built with elements of JavaScript and HTML. If you had any cause to catch some fun with your classic feature phone, you’d probably be playing the popular Snake Game.
The Snake Game involves a moving snake within a bordered environment. The snake grows longer as it eats apples in its path.
As the snake’s length increases, navigation becomes harder. The game ends when the snakehead touches any part of the body or the wall of the environment.
Now, here’s the question.
What is the highest score on JavaScript Snake?
The highest possible score on the JavaScript Snake is 99,999. There’s currently no information as to whether anyone has reached this level.
Achieving the highest score on JavaScript Snake would be a very challenging task, if not impossible.
Even if you could have that level of concentration to keep your snake from crashing into itself or the wall, you would need the endurance to stay on the screen for hours.
Read on to know more about the history and development of the snake game.
History Of The Snake Game Genre
The Snake Game genre dates back to the late 1970s. It appeared in the arcade game Blockade in 1976 and it was remade as Bigfoot Bonkers within the same year.
A year later, Atari released two games inspired by Blockade. The first one was for the arcade game, Domino’s, and the second for their cartridge console called Surround.
Then, in 1978, Peter Trefonas programmed Worm, the first Snake Game genre available for home computers. He would go on to create more titles with similar styles for other platforms like the Apple II.
Nibbles emerged in 1982 and it was a popular title at the time. It featured higher speeds in which the snake had to navigate through a maze. Microsoft would add Nibbles as a sample program for a time with MS-DOS in 1991.
They would also add Rattler Race, which incorporated enemy snakes in the popular gameplay for their entertainment pack.
About JavaScript Programming Language
JavaScript is one of the core languages behind the World Wide Web alongside HTML and CSS. It’s a brainchild of Netscape Corporation. At the time, loaded web pages were static.
The desire to break this limitation caused them to create an entirely new programming language with syntax similar to Java and a script style.
Today, it is the most popular programming language in the world. It was first called LiveScript when it was adopted with the Netscape Navigator beta version.
In December of the same year, 1995, the name changed to JavaScript. At the time, Java was a popular programming language.
Many believed that JavaScript was affiliated with Java. Some believe this was a clever marketing tactic by Netscape to sell the language, as it seemed to be a sign of approval.
JavaScript developers initially built it to serve as a programming language that requests pages from the server-side to be viewed by the user.
Like every innovation, it soon faced stiff competition. Microsoft launched their client-side language called JScript, which was a result of reverse engineering of JavaScript.
With HTML and CSS extensions implementation, they launched their browser called Internet Explorer. With time, it became the most popular for client-side implementation.
A renaissance would come for JavaScript with the launch of Ajax and the plan to make groups of web applications with JavaScript. JavaScript would go on to receive more support from various communities creating libraries around it.
Google would also go on to use JavaScript for their Chrome browser in 2008. This development was the icing on the cake as Chrome blew its competition out of the water in terms of speed.
JavaScript Implementation For Games
The purpose of JavaScript was for client-end web development. Over the last decade, due to more contributions from different communities, the versatility of JavaScript as a language has grown.
We now see JavaScript being implemented in web applications, mobile applications, backend servers, and databases.
With certain tools and libraries, you can now create comprehensive games with JavaScript, including 2D and 3D games.
However, JavaScript cannot produce triple-A games. JavaScript is restricted to creating games for web platforms because personal computers don’t pack enough processing power like gaming devices.
Why Is The Snake Game A Popular JavaScript Project?
The easiest way to learn a new programming language is to attempt a project. For a beginner, it is best to keep that project as simple as possible.
The snake game is a simple implementation of JavaScript programming. JavaScript can help beginners to better grasp the language and prepare them for real-life troubleshooting situations.
Some Games Made With JavaScript
To appreciate JavaScript as a gaming programming language, let us note some games built with JavaScript.
HEXGL:
HEXGL is a futuristic-looking racing game. It displays some good graphics. It was built mostly with JavaScript, HTML, and WebGL.
Crosscode: Crosscode is leagues ahead of most titles built with JavaScript. It is an impressive RPG game with a deep storyline. There are also extra non-playable characters with their storylines.
Gods Will Be watching:
This game is a unique puzzle experience where people survive isolation for forty days. It is the player’s job to interact with the crew and keep them warm, fed, and stable. The game has a nice artistic design.
Polycraft:
Polycraft is a 3D defense game where players gather resources, upgrade their towers and their military.
Nokia Mobile Implementation Of Snake Games
Nokia helped make the genre quite popular on mobile. They added the game to almost all their mobile phones.
Snake:
This was programmed in 1997 by Nokia and launched with Nokia 6110. It was the first snake game published by Nokia for monochrome devices.
Snake II:
Snake II was the second installment of the game. It was also designed for monochrome devices. It was launched in 2000 and featured on devices like the Nokia 3310.
Snake Xenzia:
Snake Xenzia followed the titles produced for later monochrome devices and cheap colored cell phones.
Snake Ex:
This was majorly designed with colored displays in mind. Nokia included it in the Nokia 9290 communicator in 2002. This title brought with it multiplayer capability with infrared and Bluetooth.
Snake Ex2:
This was the second installment of the Ex title. It was also made for colored screens. It featured in the Nokia 3100 and many series 40 phones in 2003.
Snakes:
This was the first 3D version. It came with Bluetooth multiplayer support for N-Gage in 2005. Nokia would later install it in many N series phones without multiplayer support.
Snake III:
This, like snakes, was also a 3D game. Nokia decided to opt for the original naming convention. This installment differed from snakes in the sense that it was more life-like.
It featured on phones like the Nokia 3250. It also supported multiplayer through Bluetooth.
Snakes Subsonic:
This was the second installment of snakes released for the N-Gage 2.0 in 2008.
Snake Xenzia (2017):
This was a reboot of the classic Snake Xenzia. Snake Xenzia was probably one the most popular among the titles.
Nokia made it with the return of the 3310, which was arguably one of Nokia’s most used and popular devices.
Snake Video Game Gameplay
The Snake Game requires a short reaction time, and players can plan their steps ahead of time. The general idea involves the player moving the snake within a border.
It may involve the snake getting longer over time by picking up objects in its path. In another case, the snake may also have a fixed length and die when contacting the border walls.
There are two major gameplay concepts of the Snake Video Game.
The first is a two-player game that involves snakes within the environment. Here the players try to block the opponent’s path and force them to die by taking a path with a snake trail.
The second one is the more popular gameplay concept, especially with the Nokia installments of the game. Here, the snake eats objects to get bigger and earn the player points.
As the snake increases in length, chances increase that the snake would run into itself.
The popularity of the genre and the Nokia implementation have inspired developers to keep creating emulators of these games in modern devices.
In 1996, the Snake Game appeared in the top 100 games of all time. The need for forethought and swift reaction to progress in the game contributed to its wide acclaim.
The Museum of Modern Art in 2012 announced that the Nokia implementation of the game was amongst the games it planned to add to its collection in the future.
Conclusion
The JavaScript Snake Game is a popular project for people learning the programming language. The Snake Video Game genre inspires it.
The Snake Game genre capitalizes on its simplicity to get learners to build something and face real-life challenges.
The highest possible score on the JavaScript Snake Game is 99,999. It is an almost impossible task to reach this score, however.
JavaScript was created as a client-side programming language, but it has become more versatile in application.
Today, you can create impressive 2D and 3D games using the JavaScript programming language along with other tools.