Viperbyte is a new take on the classical snake game of the 1970's. The game requires two players (human vs human or human vs AI) and the goal is to be the first to achieve 100 points.
Points are scored by eating matching color hearts that appear on the play field, or by eating your opponent’s body segments. As you score points, your body grows in length, which in turn can be attacked by your opponent to regain points. If your snake becomes trapped, your body segments are consumed and points are awarded to the opponent.
To successfully eat a heart, your snake color must match the heart color. If the color does not match, the heart is still consumed but the points are awarded to your opponent. You can change the color of your snake at any time. Eating hearts also awards venom, which is required to use certain abilities.
Hearts are generated by squashing spiders that appear on the play field.
The pace of the game is increased as a player approaches the winning score. To win, a player must have quick reflexes and a successful strategy in acquiring and using venom.
Venom can be used for the following abilities:
Attack Ability: charge at your opponent to cut them in half. Score points from the severed body segments.
Shield Ability: protects you against one attack from your opponent.
Butterfly Bomb: makes your opponents body segments fly off in all directions after a 10 second countdown. The bomb is visible to you but appears as a normal heart to your opponent. Caution: the bomb can be passed back to you if your opponent makes a successful attack in the countdown period!
Escape Ability: allows you to slide out of a tricky situation. Prevents loss of body segments when trapped.
Sacrifice Ability: sacrifice body segments (and score) to gain venom. This lets you use your other abilities when you need them.
Viperbyte Strategy Guide
On the surface Viperbyte may seem like a simple snake game, however there is an underlying strategy that will enable a Viperbyte guru to easily beat a novice player.
The strategic elements are the spiders, your venom supply and how you use your abilities.
Squashing the spiders at random can easily lose you the match. Instead think about which spider is likely to produce a heart that you can get to first. The longer your body, the easier it is to protect your hearts. Generating hearts just in front of your opponent can also give you the point if your opponent cannot change color in time.
Hearts not only win you points but also give you venom. Venom plays an important role in gaining the upper hand. Most importantly it gives you the attack ability which allows you to cut your opponent in half and score points. Points scored from an attack help keep you in the lead.
Always keep an eye on your venom supply. Do not let it become fully depleted, as this will cause a penalty. Fully depleted venom must be regenerated to a quarter of your full supply before it becomes available.
Venom is vital for using your abilities. The shield ability is most useful towards the end of a match where protecting your body will help you win the round.
The bomb ability can be an easy way to score not only points, but additional venom from your opponent. Make sure your opponent cannot attack you in the countdown period by keeping close to them.
The escape ability is best used when you are about to get trapped, preventing loss of body parts and points.
Finally, the sacrifice ability can be useful when additional venom is required, however you will sacrifice both score and body parts. The sacrifice should only be used when the outcome will provide a distinct advantage, such as a successful attack on an opponent with a long body, or as a last desperate bid to prevent your opponent from winning.
Viperbyte is about strategy and not just reflexes, however both play an important role. Each game level gets progressively faster and introduces new abilities and a larger variety of colored hearts. This changes the strategy required to win each round. Likewise your opponents strategy must also be taken into account. Are they offensive or defensive? Do they hold back, waiting for your snake to grow long, before making an attack? Do they generate hearts evenly or in a mad flurry? Do they like to drop a lot bombs, or remain constantly shielded. Each strategy has it strengths and weaknesses.
Welcome to the challenge of Viperbyte!
