Soccer Snakes
Clumsy cartoon snakes play head-to-head football — steer with the arrow keys, boost, grab power-ups and score three before your rival. Play the CPU or a friend.
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What is Soccer Snakes?
Soccer Snakes is a free head-to-head football game by RavalMatic in which you steer a cartoon snake with the arrow keys, boost with Up, eat blue dots for power-ups and try to score three goals before your rival — against the computer or a friend.
RavalMatic is the studio behind Foot Chinko, one of the most popular games in our arcade, and its name appears on the Soccer Snakes title screen: “A game by RavalMatic”. The game was built with the Phaser engine, which featured it in its own news roundup on January 30, 2019; GamePix added it to its catalogue on February 1, 2024. It plays in landscape in desktop and mobile browsers.
The menus are quick. The first screen asks you to “Choose your rival”: CPU or Player vs Player. Next comes “Choose match mode”, where you set the difficulty against the computer — Easy or Hard — and pick one of three formats: First to 3, Timed or Sudden Death. A Controls button sits on the same screen if you want a reminder before kickoff.
On the pitch, Soccer Snakes plays like a cross between a classic snake game and a football match. You press Space to set your snake moving, steer it with the arrow keys and press Up for a burst of speed. Blue dots on the pitch are power-ups — eat them, as you would food in a snake game, and you get an advantage. GamePix’s description adds “powerful headbutts”: your snake’s head is how you hit the ball.
Two details from Phaser’s write-up show there is more to it than chaos. When the snakes get stuck in a deadlock, they go into rampage mode. And you can travel through the opposite goal and pop out the other side, which, as Phaser put it, makes the game “more tactical than it first appears”.
Phaser also described the format as a World Cup for snakes and noted that mastering the three-goal mode opens up a timed match or even sudden death. Combined with the Easy and Hard settings, that gives Soccer Snakes a simple but real sense of progression.
In our arcade, Soccer Snakes sits with Leg Soccer as one of the two most chaotic two-player games, and alongside Football Heads and Head Soccer 2023 as a one-on-one match. What sets it apart is movement: nobody else on the pitch slithers, wraps through a goal or turns a stalemate into a rampage.
Playing Soccer Snakes
- 1Choose your rival
Pick CPU to play the computer or Player vs Player to play a friend on the same device. The title screen shows your pink rival glaring at you while you decide.
- 2Set the difficulty and mode
On the “Choose match mode” screen, select Easy or Hard and choose First to 3, Timed or Sudden Death. The Controls button shows the keys.
- 3Start moving
Press Space to get your snake moving, then steer it around the pitch with the arrow keys. Your snake keeps moving once it starts, so steering is about choosing a direction early rather than stopping and turning.
- 4Boost and headbutt
Press Up for a burst of speed and drive your snake’s head into the ball to send it toward the opponent’s goal.
- 5Eat the blue dots
Blue dots on the pitch are power-ups. Slither over them to collect an advantage, just as a snake eats food in the classic arcade game.
- 6Score three first
In First to 3, the first snake to score three goals wins. Timed plays against the clock, and Sudden Death ends with the next goal.
Soccer Snakes controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Start your snake moving |
| Arrow keys | Steer your snake |
| Up arrow | Boost your speed |
| Blue dots (on the pitch) | Eat them to collect power-ups |
| Mouse / tap (menus) | Choose rival, difficulty and match mode |
Modes & progression
Play the computer on one of two difficulty settings. A good place to learn the boost and the goal wrap-around.
Two snakes, two people, one device — a one-on-one match decided by who steers and boosts better.
The standard format: the first snake to score three goals wins the match.
Play against the clock, or decide it with a single goal. Phaser’s write-up notes these open up once you master First to 3.
How to win at Soccer Snakes
Boost with purpose. Up gives you a burst of speed, which is perfect for reaching a loose ball first or driving through it for a shot. Boosting aimlessly just carries you past the play. Save it for the moments that decide possession.
Use the goal wrap-around. You can travel through the opposite goal and pop out the other side. That lets you approach the ball from angles your rival does not expect — the reason Phaser called the game more tactical than it looks.
Eat blue dots when the ball is safe. Power-ups help, but chasing one while the ball sits near your goal is a quick way to concede. Collect them when the ball is in your rival’s half. A power-up is never worth an open goal.
Do not fear the deadlock. If the two snakes get tangled, the game breaks it up with rampage mode. Be ready to react the moment it ends instead of trying to force your way out.
Lead with your head. Your snake hits the ball with its head, so line the head up behind the ball and toward goal before you push. Approaching from the side tends to send it sideways. A clean approach turns a nudge into a shot.
Learn on Easy, win on Hard. Easy gives you room to learn steering and boosting. Move to Hard once you can score three without thinking about the keys. Hard punishes slow turns, so the habits you build on Easy matter.
Play safe in Sudden Death. One goal ends it. Defend first, wait for your rival to over-commit, then counter with a boost.
Good to know — In Soccer Snakes you can slither through the opposite goal and pop out on the other side of the pitch — a snake-game rule turned into a football tactic, and the detail Phaser singled out when it featured the game in 2019.
What makes Soccer Snakes fun
- Made by RavalMatic, the studio behind Foot Chinko
- Head-to-head football between two cartoon snakes
- Play the CPU on Easy or Hard, or a friend on one device
- Three match modes: First to 3, Timed and Sudden Death
- Space to start, arrow keys to steer, Up to boost
- Blue-dot power-ups and a rampage mode that breaks deadlocks
- Goal wrap-around: go through one goal and pop out the other side
- Built with Phaser; free in the browser with no download
Why play Soccer Snakes on PlayFutbol?
Soccer Snakes runs free and instantly in your browser here — no download, no signup, on phone or desktop. And when you want to test your football brain rather than your reflexes, it sits alongside 27 original daily football trivia games made by PlayFutbol.
Explore PlayFutbol's daily gamesFrequently asked questions
Choose CPU or Player vs Player, pick a difficulty and match mode, then press Space to start moving. Steer your snake with the arrow keys, boost with Up, eat blue dots for power-ups and headbutt the ball into your rival’s goal.
Soccer Snakes was made by RavalMatic, the studio behind Foot Chinko. Its name is on the game’s title screen, and the Phaser engine featured the game in January 2019.
Yes. Choose Player vs Player on the first screen to play a one-on-one match against a friend on the same device. Choose CPU to play the computer instead.
There are three match modes: First to 3, Timed and Sudden Death. Against the CPU you can also choose Easy or Hard. First to 3 is the classic format, and Phaser’s write-up notes that mastering it opens up the other two.
Press Space to start moving, use the arrow keys to steer and press Up to boost. Slither over blue dots to collect power-ups.
They are power-ups. Eat them — like food in a classic snake game — to gain an advantage during the match.
When the two snakes get stuck in a deadlock, they go into rampage mode, which breaks the stalemate. It is one of the details Phaser highlighted when it featured the game.
Yes. You can travel through the opposite goal and come out on the other side of the pitch, which opens up surprising angles for attacking the ball.
GamePix lists Soccer Snakes for desktop and mobile browsers in landscape. Its controls are built around the keyboard — Space, arrow keys and Up — so it is most comfortable on a computer.
Yes. Both are RavalMatic games. Foot Chinko crosses football with pachinko, while Soccer Snakes crosses football with the classic snake game — the same playful approach of mixing football with another arcade idea.
Yes. Soccer Snakes is free to play in your browser on PlayFutbol, with no download and no account. Both the CPU and Player vs Player modes are available here, along with all three match formats.
Soccer Snakes is a third-party HTML5 game served via GamePix and embedded here for free play. PlayFutbol's own 48 daily football trivia games are first-party.