I love me some Slither.io, and you probably do too if you’re looking for advice on how to get good at at snake-ing. The game has taken off much like similar title Agar.io did last year, but it has the makings to be an overall better and more fun game — so of course you want to get better at it.
Slither.io is available on both mobile devices and PC browsers, but the core gameplay is the same across all platforms: Be a snake, outwit other snakes, and eat dead snake’s particle guts. That sounds about right…right?
Growing big in the game does take skill, but there’s a lot of luck involved in slithering your way into the top 10. Some of the biggest luck factors are:
- Where you spawn – If you spawn in a populated area near much larger snakes, you will probably get your little snake jaws on some particles sooner and with less effort than otherwise. I’ve had spawns right on top of recently-killed, massive snakes that shot me up to 5k+ size within my first fifteen seconds, and other times where I’ve stayed sub-1000 for a couple minutes because there was no action near my spawn point.
- The aggressiveness of other players – There is no accounting for how aggressive other snakes will be, whether you’re big or small. Being stuck in the middle of a bunch of aggressive snakes means you have to play it cool — it’s generally best to get out of these areas ASAP. Some players are hyper-aggressive and are best ignored and wandered away from.
- Large snake deaths – A lot of players recommend staying near huge snakes to clean up after them, and that’s a solid piece of advice. You never know when you’ll come across a large, coiling trail of tasty particles. This is why it’s important to stay near other snakes, but not aggressive ones (see above). If you’re trailing a huge snake, stay out away from their head so they don’t see you.
Luck aside, what else should you do and bear in mind to slither your way to the top of the charts?
Never trust other snakes
This can’t be emphasized enough: Other snakes are never, ever to be trusted. Just like they can’t trust you as far as they can boost-race you.
You need to be near other snakes to get your chance at a snack, but never assume anyone will leave you alone. Even the smallest snake can take down the largest on the map, and often tiny snakes are the most vicious because they have no size to lose and don’t care if they die and restart.
But tiny snakes aren’t the only aggressive ones out there.
Slithering parallel to another snake with both your heads near each other is dangerous–sure, you might be able to boost, turn their way, and kill them. But they can do that to you, too.
Risky business.
Don’t stay in overpopulated areas of the map if you’re trying to play it safe, especially if you’re lagging. Chances are any snakes around you are also laggy, which can lead to some free kills but also some stupid deaths on your part.
Coiling
Coiling is a common tactic, and it’s one anyone used to being a big snake in Slither.io is well-versed in.
This unfortunate soul coiled around a smaller snake and I went in for my own coil.
There are two primary uses for coiling:
- Safety – Turning and coiling your head into your body to keep other snakes from trying to kill you.
- Cold-blooded snake murder – Circling around a smaller snake (or a larger one that just coiled one smaller than themselves) and trapping them until they inevitably ram their face into your body.
Do not coil near snakes that are much larger than you as it’s entirely possible they’ll take the chance to trap and kill you themselves.
Coiling for safety isn’t as safe as it seems until you’re quite large, but doing so to trap other snakes is something you can generally pull off easily once you’re at a size of 2000+. It’s often worth it even if a snake is significantly smaller than you, unless it’s tiny.
When you coil to kill, be careful of the snake(s) you’re trapping and any outside of your coil trying to boost into your face. It’s more common than you might think.
Soft-coiling for safety
If you’re in a particularly aggressive area and want to try to guarantee being somewhat safe, don’t just slither straight. Go in a small circle along the way or just turn a bit once in a while.
Coiled in some weird ways for protection.
This way if you’re bombarded by aggressive snakes, you can turn your head toward/into your body and have more of a safe space than otherwise.
Note: You should also soft-coil around masses of particles you want, this way other snakes will either have a tough time getting to them or not be able to at all. This is Slither.io‘s version of resource management.
Boost like you mean it
You have one active ability in Slither.io: Boosting. And boosting is pretty cool — it’s great for making an escape, speeding up and killing other snakes, and for gobbling up masses of particles in a hurry.
If you see a huge mass of particles, boost! Boost like your life depends on it, but be careful not to ram yourself into other snakes. Since it can be difficult to control your snake when you boost, it’s best to slow down if you see other snakes going for the same particles once you’ve chowed down on some yourself.
Boosting to kill other snakes is more complicated. They can, after all, see you boosting and often will do so as well to either escape or kill you. It’s not uncommon to boost and play “chicken” with other snakes to see who can kill (or get their head to safety) first. That said, you can net more kills than you might expect just by surprise boosting your body in front of other snakes.
Playing “chicken” a bit too close for comfort.
Don’t be afraid to play it risky when you’re small. When you’re small, you have minimal time investment in that run. Take chances and try to boost and kill other snakes at any opportunity. Don’t worry about death when you’re small, restarting is no big deal.
Escaping using your boost is self-explanatory: Boost and get away from the other snakes. Don’t be afraid to pop your boost whenever you have to, it doesn’t eat enough of your size to worry about it too much once you’re over 1000.
Pay attention to the map
The map doesn’t tell you much, but it does a great job of telling you where to go and where not to go based on what you want to do or how laggy you are.
Light grey areas are densely-populated or are where there are one or more huge snakes. Dark areas are less populated, but are the safest spots for players with lag.
These are just some tips to help you get better at Slither.io and more regularly make your way to the top 10. This advice isn’t bulletproof, but it’s worked for me and I have little trouble getting into the top 10 unless the map I’m on’s top 10 is swimming with 20,000+ size snakes. Get out there and slither your way to snake obesity!
Published: Apr 13, 2016 02:18 pm