Slither.io is a massively multiplayer game on the iPhone and iPad (as well as Android devices and desktop web browsers) that challenges players to destroy competing snakes and feast on the glowing dots that were once their innards, making your own snake much bigger in the process.

Slither.io is already a big hit, with millions of installs in its first month. These Slither.io tips and strategies will give you all the advantage you’ll need to make the biggest snake on the block.

The Basics

While the majority of this guide will discuss advanced tactics for players familiar with Slither.io, it’s important to cover some of the basics should new players not be familiar with the game’s core concepts.

  • Getting Bigger: The main objective of Slither.io is to grow your snake. You will do this by steering over glowing dots to consume them. The more dots you consume, the larger your snake will be. The game is full of small dots just waiting to be consumed, however, the bigger dots (which will grow you even faster) come from the corpses of other snakes that have been killed.Killing Snakes: To destroy another player’s snake, you will need to trick them into hitting their snake’s head into the side of your snake’s body (or the body of another player’s snake). Similarly, your survival is entirely dependent on your ability to not crash headfirst into another snake.Speed Bursts: Double-tapping and holding the screen in the direction you want your snake to go will give them a burst of speed. This can help give you the advantage you’ll need when trying to destroy or evade an opponent. Speed bursts come at a cost, however, with your snake shrinking in length whenever you use them.

Catch the Moving Dots

If Slither.io’s goals up could be summed up in a single sentence, it would be this: eat every dot you can. Most of these dots are stationary and easy to collect. The biggest dots come from the fallen bodies of your enemies. There’s also a third type of dot that can give a pretty significant boost to your length. 

This third type of dot is a moving dot that’s always on the run. If you don’t engage, you’ll see it gently move across the screen — but if you try to pursue, the runaway dot will forever try to evade your capture. To catch these dots, you’ll want to double-tap and hold the screen to get a burst of speed. This speed boost will shrink the size of your snake the longer you hold it. Because of this, you’ll want to use it sparingly. Place your finger over the runaway dot to pursue it at the right speed, and it will be in your snaky stomach in no time.

Moving dots can safely travel through the body of another snake, but you can’t. Stay alert, and be prepared to lift your finger and steer away at a moment’s notice. If you’re not careful, a poorly pursued moving dot can turn you into a dead snake in the blink of an eye.

Circle Your Enemies

While the main tactic for defeating enemies in Slither.io is turning hard in front of the head of another snake, there is a slightly more complicated trick that larger snakes can perform when trying to destroy much smaller ones: the circle.

When a smaller snake moves up alongside you, begin turning towards the side of your body where the other snake is present. Create a loop by crossing over your own tail, trapping the smaller snake inside.

If things go according to plan, the smaller snake will crash into the circle you’ve created and burst into a collection of dots that you can gobble up. Things don’t always go according to plan, of course, and you may find yourself in a situation where the other snake is able to safely move inside your trap.

This could go on forever (or at least until you get bored and eventually move away, freeing your prey), but if you’re feeling daring, you could cross your tail again to try and tighten your circle trap. 

Doing so runs the risk of your snake crashing into the smaller snake, but if done correctly, you can squeeze every last bit of life out of your competitor like the boa constrictor that you are.

Being Lonely Can Be a Good Thing

While it’s easy to see Slither.io as a game of destroying your opponents, sometimes the best course of action is to let your opponents destroy each other. When an area gets hectic, it can be all too easy to crash headfirst into a competitor and bring an end to your run. Our advice? Pick a direction and keep gobbling dots until you’re on your own.

While the map in Slither.io isn’t terribly helpful, imagine yourself trying to reach the outer perimeter. Pretend you’re an early explorer searching for the edge of the world. The key thing is to move away from the mass of other players and try to gobble up the dots that occur naturally in the game. 

This is a much slower way to grow - but it’s also safer. If you’re having trouble surviving long enough to reach a notable size, this strategy should help you get there. And once you’re big? Don’t be afraid to dive back into the fray so long as the screen isn’t too crowded with competition.

Benefit From Somebody Else’s Hard Work

Trying to eliminate other snakes is dangerous, risky business so why not let other players do it for you? A sneaky, though highly profitable tactic worth considering, is to adopt the persona of a remora. In Slither.io, this means staying close to a much larger snake and feeding on the leftover dots of the snakes they’ve killed.

Even better, those big snakes are going to die sometime. If you’re there waiting, you’ll grow very big very quickly as you dive in for a quick bite before its predator reaches the section of the corpse that you’re devouring. Just remember to move quickly when the predator arrives. 

Look Away to Stay Safe

No matter how well you’re doing, you’ll eventually find yourself on the receiving end of a very aggressive competitor. But there’s one simple maneuver you can use to push other players to lose interest in their pursuit: turn away.

Rather than trying to best an opponent with a burst of speed, claiming their life instead of your own, take the easy way out and walk away from the fight. If you’re racing alongside each other, turn away from your opponent until you’re facing the opposite direction, then use a burst of speed to move towards the end of your body. Your head will now be far off their radar, and unless they’re particularly nasty, they’ll turn their attention to easier prey.

We don’t advise using this tactic against snakes that are much larger than you. If you double-back and aim for your own tail in this instance, you’ll only make it easier for them to circle you. Instead, turn at a ninety-degree angle and hammer on the burst to try and escape their reach.

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day