Blackout
Classic rules, but the lights go out every few seconds: remember where things are and keep eating.
- Goal
- Eat the most food before the clock runs out
- Run length
- 45 seconds
- Speed
- 4.5 → 7 moves a second
- Ranked by
- food eaten
- Twist
- The lights go out every 8 s for 1.5 s
Blackout plays exactly like Classic: 45 seconds, the same speed ramp, and food is the score. The difference is what you can see. Every 8 seconds the lights go out for a second and a half, with a thud to tell you it has happened. The game keeps running in the dark.
A memory test at speed
A second and a half is several moves, more as the run speeds up. During that time you are steering from memory: where your head is, which way you are going, where the nearest wall is and where the food was.
The trick is to know your next few moves before the lights go. The blackouts come on a steady rhythm, so you can feel one coming. A couple of seconds before it, settle into a simple line with clear space ahead: a straight run along an open stretch, or a turn you have already committed to.
What kills you in the dark
Turning. Most Blackout crashes are a turn made blind that lands one cell off, straight into a wall or your own body. In the dark, fewer turns are safer. If you were heading for food, keep going if the path is clear; if not, hold a straight line until you can see again.
Use the light well
When the lights come back, read the whole board at once: your head, the nearest food, the next one. The warm-up helps a lot here, since the board, the walls and the food order are the same for everyone. If you already know where the next food appears, the dark matters much less.
Faster and fewer food rounds
A faster round moves everything 12% quicker, so each blackout covers more moves. With fewer food, one item less is on the board at a time; the food you are heading for is often further away, so you are more likely to be mid-trip when the lights go.
A mistake to avoid
Starting a tight manoeuvre just before a blackout. If you see the dark coming, finish the turn early or wait until after.