Coil is the classic snake game rebuilt for one thumb. Your snake never stops moving; every tap turns it clockwise, and three quick taps turn it left. Eat apples to grow, grab the golden ones while they last, and keep your ever-longer tail out of your own way. It gets faster as you grow, so every run ends in a tangle you'll want to beat.
How to play Coil
- Your snake moves on its own. Tap anywhere to turn it right (clockwise).
- Tap three times quickly to turn left. Two quick taps cancel out, so a fumble never U-turns you into yourself.
- Eat the apple before its ring runs out. Every apple is a point and makes you one longer.
- Golden apples are worth two and drop a coin, but they vanish fast.
- Don't hit the walls, the red spike rocks, or your own body.
Tips to get a high score
- Plan your turn a cell early. The snake's eyes show which way it will go next.
- Right turns are one tap, so circle clockwise when you can and save triple taps for emergencies.
- Leave yourself an open lane. Hugging the walls in long loops keeps the middle free.
- Eat apples quickly to build a QUICK streak; the chime climbs with every one.
Why the snake speeds up
Two things push the speed: time and score. The snake starts at about five and a half cells a second. Just by surviving, you reach roughly ten cells a second around the 70-second mark. The top speed of twelve cells a second only comes from score, at about 42 points.
The board on its 15-by-25 grid changes as well. Early apples land 3 to 9 cells away along an open path and never on the border. As the game ramps, they can spawn up to 17 cells away and right against the walls, where turning is tight.
Hunger, golden apples and rocks
The ring around each apple counts moves, not seconds. You get the length of the shortest open path to it, plus spare moves: 24 at first, falling to 14, plus one for every two segments of your body. A long snake gets more slack for the detours it needs. Eat with at least half the ring left and your QUICK streak grows, though it's only for show.
After your fifth apple, each apple you eat has a one-in-five chance of bringing a golden one, 4 to 12 cells away by path. It lasts about 22 moves longer than the trip to it. It's worth 2 points instead of 1 and makes you two segments longer, which is the price.
Spike rocks start after your eighth apple. Each apple after that has a 40% chance to add one, up to nine in all. They never appear on the border, within five cells of your head, or next to an apple, and never in a spot that cuts you off from the current apple. They do stay for the whole run, so open space shrinks as the run goes on.
How taps become turns
Each tap rotates the snake's next move a quarter turn clockwise. While you're still tapping, the move waits until you've stopped for about a tenth of a second, but never more than about a quarter of a second. One tap turns right, two cancel out, three turn left, and four just carry on straight.
At top speed a cell passes every twelfth of a second, so a slow triple tap can split across two moves and turn you twice in a row. Keep left turns fast and tight, or better, plan routes that only need right turns.
The cell your tail is leaving is safe to enter, as long as you aren't growing that move. That lets you follow your own tail around a clockwise loop while a path to the apple opens up. Just keep an eye on the ring, because every lap spends moves.
Daily levels and ghost races
Today's Coil level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.
FAQ
How do you turn left with one button?
Tap three times quickly. Taps that come close together are counted as one move, so three taps = three right turns = one left turn, applied all at once.
Why did my snake die when I wasn't touching anything?
Each apple has a ring around it that empties as you move. If it runs out before you eat the apple, the run ends — so keep moving toward food.
Is it free?
Yes. Every Tapamine game is free to play in your browser with no download and no account.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tapamine is built for phones first: portrait, one thumb, and it works offline after your first visit. It also works with a mouse or the spacebar on a computer.
How do challenges work?
After a run, tap “Challenge a friend” to send a link. Your friend plays the exact same level and races your ghost — a replay of your run — to see who wins.
Add Coil to your site
Coil is free to embed on your blog, class page or website. Paste this code:
<iframe src="https://tapamine.com/embed/coil/" title="Coil: free one-tap game" width="360" height="640" style="border:0;border-radius:16px;max-width:100%" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; web-share" loading="lazy"></iframe>