Snak is Snake plus jump.

When Panic first offered me the chance to make a game for the Playdate what I was most excited about were the buttons. I know everyone is into the crank, but for me, someone who mostly makes games for touch devices, the idea of getting to work with buttons was pretty thrilling.

The biggest thing about buttons is they're self-confirming—you feel them press in. (On a touch screen device you need to make a big deal replying to player-inputs with audio, haptics, or visual cues. But with buttons, these kinds of responses aren't required by default and often are more about gamefeel than confirmation).

I wanted to design a game that built on these strengths—a game that required quick reactions and buffered inputs. I also wanted it to be small, and feel appropriate as a pack-in evergreen game. For me that meant a game I wouldn't play so much that I'd burn out on it, and one that if I picked it up again in 15 years I'd still remember how to play and how to be good at.

Snake came to mind pretty quickly and I wondered how different the game would be if you could jump over yourself... or onto yourself. How much would the game change if I added just one button?

So I tried it! And now you can try it too.

• Code: Zach Gage (he/him)
• Art: Neven Mrgan (he/him)