How to Make a Snake Game on Scratch

No coding experience needed — Scratch is blocks, not typing. In about 30 minutes you will build a real snake game: a head that moves on a grid, body segments that follow it, food to eat, and a score. This is the same game logic our Python tutorial teaches, just with puzzle-piece blocks instead of code.

Open scratch.mit.edu in a new tab and follow along.

Setting up your sprites (snake head, body segment, food)

You need three sprites:

1. Head — click the cat icon → Paint. Draw a filled green square about 20×20 pixels in the centre of the paint editor. Name the sprite Head.
2. Segment — paint another green square, slightly darker. Name it Segment.
3. Food — paint a red circle roughly the same size. Name it Food.

Delete the cat sprite when you are done.

Next, set up two variables. Click Variables → Make a Variable:

• score
• direction

Also make a list called positions — we will use it to remember where the head has been so segments can follow the exact path.

Movement blocks explained

Snake movement is stepped, not smooth: every fraction of a second the head snaps to the next grid cell. We do this with a timer loop instead of the forever-loop, so the speed stays constant.

Click Head and build this script:

when green flag clicked
hide
go to x: (0) y: (0)
set [direction v] to (right)
delete all of [positions v]
set [score v] to (0)
show
forever
    add (x position) to [positions v]
    add (y position) to [positions v]
    move (20) steps
    wait (0.3) seconds
end

Wait — one problem: move 20 steps keeps moving in the same facing direction. Add these two scripts to Head so arrow keys change direction:

when [right arrow v] key pressed
if <not <(direction) = (left)>> then
    set [direction v] to (right)
    point in direction (90)
end

when [left arrow v] key pressed
if <not <(direction) = (right)>> then
    set [direction v] to (left)
    point in direction (-90)
end

when [up arrow v] key pressed
if <not <(direction) = (down)>> then
    set [direction v] to (up)
    point in direction (0)
end

when [down arrow v] key pressed
if <not <(direction) = (up)>> then
    set [direction v] to (down)
    point in direction (180)
end

See what the if not does? It blocks a 180° reversal — the number-one bug in beginner snake games. Our web version solves the same problem with something called an input buffer; here the simple "no instant U-turn" rule is enough.

Detecting collisions in Scratch

Three collisions make snake snake: walls, your own body, and food.

Walls — add to the bottom of Head's forever loop:

if <<(x position) > [230]> or <(x position) < [-230]>> then
    broadcast [game over v]
stop [this script v]

and a matching check for (y position) > 170 / < -170.

Food — food gets its own scripts rather than living inside Head's loop:

when green flag clicked
forever
    go to x: (pick random -220 to 220) y: (pick random -160 to 160)
end

when I receive [new food v]
go to x: (pick random -220 to 220) y: (pick random -160 to 160)

and inside Head's forever loop, add the scoring check:

if <touching [Food v] ?> then
    change [score v] by (10)
    broadcast [new food v]
end

Self collision — the honest answer is that self-collision in Scratch needs the clone technique: each time the score changes, create one clone of Segment, and each clone reads its position from the positions list a little further behind the head. When the head touches any clone, game over. In Segment's script area:

when I start as a clone
show
forever
    if <touching [Head v] ?> then
        broadcast [game over v]
    end
end

Cloning is the most advanced idea in this guide — take it slowly, and treat it as an optional stretch goal. A perfectly fun version of snake exists with just walls + food.

Adding score and restart logic

Almost done:

1. Add a Game Over backdrop message: click Stage → Backdrops → paint a dark rectangle with the words "GAME OVER". Show it via

when I receive [game over v]
switch backdrop to [game over v]
wait (2) seconds
switch backdrop to [backdrop1 v]

2. Restart cleanly: the green-flag scripts above already reset score, position, direction, and the positions list, so clicking the flag starts a fresh run.
3. Display the score: drag the score variable onto the stage so it shows as a readout while playing.

Press the green flag and play. If the head moves but food never scores, double-check that the touching Food? block is inside Head's loop, not Food's.

What you learned

• Stepped grid movement with a timed loop
• Blocking instant reversals (the input-buffer idea, simplified)
• Three collision types: wall, food, self
• Score variables, broadcasts, and restart flow

When you outgrow Scratch, the Python version is the natural next step — same logic, typed out for real. Or play a few rounds of Classic Snake here to see how far the same mechanics can be pushed.