Snakebird (video game)

Snakebird is a 2015 puzzle video game developed by Swedish studio Noumenon Games. The sequels Snakebird Primer and Snakebird Complete were released in 2019 and 2023, respectively.

Gameplay
In each of the game's 53 levels, the player controls one or more characters, known as "snakebirds". Gameplay consists of moving the characters around a 2D grid, with movement similar to Snake, except with gravity along the y-axis. The objective of each level is to maneuver the characters to a goal, while collecting fruits that serve as objectives and avoiding obstacles. Collecting fruit increases the length of the characters, which usually makes it easier to navigate the levels. The challenge of the game arises from needing to control multiple characters in a way that builds towards reaching the goal, and the indirectness of the solutions.

Development
Snakebird development began as early as March 2013. Development of a prototype continued for the Ludum Dare 27 game competition in August 2013, but the game was not submitted to the competition. The game was released for PC on May 4, 2015. It was later released on mobile platforms in 2016.

Sequels
Snakebird Primer was released on 20 February 2019. The sequel contains 70 levels, and is regarded as having been made substantially easier than the original to appeal to a wider audience.

Snakebird Complete, which contains all the levels from Snakebird and Snakebird Primer, was released for the Nintendo Switch on 24 November 2023, and for PC and Mac on 29 December 2023.

Reception
Snakebird received positive reviews, with critics citing its visual design, describing it as "cute" while contrasting that aspect with its difficulty. Comments included Kotaku's description of the game as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and Pocket Gamer stating that "If it wasn't totally passé to call things 'the Dark Souls of,' I'd call Snakebird the Dark Souls of puzzle games".

Touch Arcade rated Snakebird's iOS release five out of five stars, commenting that the game felt more natural played on a mobile device. They also praised its visual design, animations, and backgrounds, but commented on its difficulty, describing it as "tough" and stating that it was not for everyone.

Eurogamer praised Snakebird Complete for its level design, the conciseness but trickiness of its puzzles, and its nonlinear level selection map.

In 2019, Baba is You developer Hempuli Oy described Snakebird as "probably the singular title that has most affected Baba Is You's design".

A team of researchers in 2020 found that small changes on the game levels can have a large impact on the length of a solution.