by Moe Zilla

Created on: August 29, 2010

Yes, every YouTube video now contains a secret "Easter Egg" which lets you play the classic video game, "Snake." The rules are a little tricky, since, like most Easter Eggs, there aren't any instructions.  The game simply appears if you enter the right combination of keystrokes - and you don't even have to pause the video.  Want to give it a try? Just go to any YouTube video and give YouTube this secret signal. Hold down your left-arrow key - until suddenly, the "snake" appears!

It travels quickly in a straight line, and you can control its direction with your four arrow keys. In fact, you'll have to control its direction in order to play the game. If the snake continues too long in any one direction, it will eventually hit the edge of the video, stop, and flash several times - signaling that you lose! And then the snake disappears...

So how do you win the game? YouTube also displays a dot somewhere within the frame of the video. The snake is always in motion, and your job is to guide it (with your arrow keys) until it passes over that dot. If you do, the dot disappears, as though the snake has eaten it. But then another dot instantly appears for the snake somewhere else!

But if you turn too quickly, the snake can kill itself! It will also freeze, flash, and then disappear if you navigate the snake so it crashes back into itself. As the game progresses, it gets harder and harder to avoid this fate. Every time the snake "eats" a dot, it also increases in length - so now you've got more of the snake's body that you have to avoid!

"Snake" is actually one of the oldest video games in the world, according to Wikipedia, and it dates back to the mid-1970s. I remember playing it on my first PC back in 1993, and it also came pre-installed on Nokia's phones starting in 1998. It's a simple game that doesn't require a lot of graphics, so it's very easy for computer programmers. Usually the snake is just a long series of squares, but on YouTube, the snake is a row of small, greyish-white circles.

But it's a lot of fun, because YouTube's videos give your game the possibility of millions of backgrounds! This means you can play Snake to the tune of nearly any song you can imagine. And if you're having trouble finding the dot - just wait until the video changes its picture!

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