Before there was Vampire Survivors, there was SNKRX. By that, I mean arena shooters with wave-based upgrades in a budget world that make you feel incredibly powerful. Top-down arena shooters have been around for years, but I feel like SNKRX was a step towards what we now call a survivors-like. Allow me to explain and champion SNKRX as a superb £2.49 game.
SNKRX places our beloved Snake game into an enclosed arena, and instead of picking up pieces to increase your snake’s length to stay alive, you’ll be using your snake to shoot and kill waves of enemies. Initially, you’ll start in the shop with just one snake part, and for the first version of the game, you can buy additional snake parts to build a snake up to seven parts long. The longer the snake, the more exposed you’ll be to enemy attacks, and you can shift the parts of your snake around to protect your most critical parts. What’s critical to you will depend on how you build your snake…
The best thing about SNKRX is the way you can build your snake into different formats. There are over 30 different snake parts, divided into different classes. Some mage classes may chain strike damage, but others will have an area of effect damage. There’s a swarm class that lets tiny maggots loose to attack enemies. Others might burn or freeze enemies. An orb class swirls orbs around the snake. You can mix and match them how you see fit, and they can all be upgraded to a second or third level by buying multiple of the same snake between waves, unlocking an improvement bonus on the third level. Those overarching classes also create synergy bonuses. Place a few different healing classes in your snake, and you’ll get a burst of healing dots instead of one. The merchant synergy will let dead enemies leave coins behind to boost your coffers in the shop between waves. There are so many synergies to try out and match together, you’ll be busy for hours.
Alongside all of this, every 4 rounds of the 20 you need to survive to complete a run will offer you a passive item from a randomised trio of items to choose from. These can be incredibly helpful and often class-specific. Some of them may boost certain slots, such as the first, fourth, or last snake part. Again, customisation and creativity are key. Upgrading your shop, passive items, and snake parts all cost money, and money can be scarce if you don’t invest in the Merchant class early on, but you’ll need to be clever when playing the game, as you may have less firepower when clambering for cash.
So, how does SNKRX actually play? Silky smooth! Using keyboard or mouse to guide your snake around, you can bounce off walls and circle around yourself to keep yourself away from enemies. Elite enemies pop out every 5 waves, and these can take out a snake part in one hit, so knowing when to attack or slither away is crucial to survival. That may mean deploying your ranged attacks, or attack towers, and hiding. You might not be able to if all your attacks require being up close and personal. If you clear the 20 waves, you unlock NG+, with newer, harder enemies. To combat this, you can now have 8 elements on your snake. NG+2 allows you 9 snake elements. As the snake grows, keeping yourself out of trouble is harder, but often you’ll not have enough power to clear enemies quickly enough if you keep your snake tiny. I’ve seen some great gameplay of better gamers doing it, and some Steam achievements push players to attempt some crazy builds. For me, I’m just happy trying to survive NG+5!
SNKRX is a top-tier budget title. You get so much game for your cash, with excellent mechanics, strategy, gameplay, and choice. It feels unique with its snake-like movement, and with the shop providing things at random, you’ll have to adapt to different playstyles to survive. It is one of my favourite £2.49 games of all time, and it still packs a punch 4 years after release. Don’t sleep on it.
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