Sprint
Twenty seconds, fast from the very first move: eat the most food before the clock runs out.
- Goal
- Eat the most food before the clock runs out
- Run length
- 20 seconds
- Speed
- 7 → 8.5 moves a second
- Ranked by
- food eaten
Sprint is Classic with the warm-up removed. The run lasts 20 seconds and the snake starts at a speed Classic only reaches near its end, then gets a little quicker still. Your score is the food you eat.
The opening decides the run
There is no calm start to settle into. The first two or three bites set your score, so know before Go which food you are going for first and which way you will turn after it. The warm-up is the place to work that out, because the board, the food spots and their order are the same for everyone.
You still get about a second of grace after Go, but at this speed a second is only a handful of moves. Don't count on it.
Short body, short routes
Twenty seconds is not long enough to grow a long snake, so your own tail is rarely the problem. Walls and corners are. Most Sprint crashes are a turn pressed one move too late, straight into a wall next to the food you were chasing. Approach food along a line you can leave, not head-on into a corner.
Scoring
Food is the score; level players are split by time alive, then by who ate their last food first. In a mode this short, a crash in the last few seconds usually costs less than playing slowly the whole way, so lean towards speed. The last 5 seconds tick, which is your cue to grab what is close and not start a long detour.
Faster and fewer food rounds
A faster round adds 12% to a pace that is already high. If you struggle there, simplify: fewer turns, wider approaches. With fewer food, one item less is on the board at a time, so there is less choice and more travel. Commit to the nearest item instead of weighing two.
A mistake to avoid
Hesitating. Sprint punishes the extra loop you take to line up a perfect approach. Two clean bites in that time are worth more than one beautiful one.