Using web technology to build a game

About the challenges of developing a wildly popular game

Feb. 21, 2018 - Willem L. Middelkoop

Few years ago my brother threw a beer on my iPhone in an Amsterdam bar. The poor thing didn't like the Dutch brew as much as I do: it died. While waiting for a new phone to arrive, I used an old one that couldn't do anything but texting, calling and... Snake! The idea for Snake '97 was born and this month it was time to update the wildly popular game.

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Café 't Pakhuis in Amsterdam - where Snake '97 was — Café 't Pakhuis in Amsterdam - where Snake '97 was "invented"

Snake '97 running on iPhone X - looking and feeling like the retro mobile phone game from the 90s

UX-design for an international audience. Designing interfaces without words is difficult!

Prototype of Snake '97 running on various devices

Analysing gameplay speed differences using slow motion video

Wide screen gameplay is now possible thanks to the new responsive graphics

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Articles (159)

2025-02-10 Better Laptop
2025-01-27 Podcast Downloader
2025-01-23 Champions League of Webdesign
2025-01-18 Master of Change
2024-12-19 Data versus Feeling
2024-12-09 The Problem With Bitcoin
2024-11-11 Write your own words
2024-11-10 Go Viral on X
2024-10-20 Marathon
2024-09-10 I see dead people
2024-05-11 Developing a native iOS app
2024-03-24 Half Marathon
2024-03-05 No, I Won't Build That!
2024-02-16 Vision Pro
2024-01-16 Health and fitness data
2023-12-15 Backup Rotation Scheme
2023-11-10 Apple Watch as Phone
2023-11-01 And... there is light!
2023-10-14 Giving AI Training
2023-10-13 Hello, stranger
2023-08-23 The Same, Differently
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2023-05-08 Tablet as Tool
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2023-05-01 Working Offline First
2023-04-20 Tips for Long-Distance Cycling
2023-04-05 Cutting Cloud Costs
2023-02-08 Back to the University
2022-12-22 Rolex DateJust 36
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2022-10-23 MUSE in Carré
2022-09-15 The Ultimate Freedom Bike
2022-09-11 Computer says no
2022-07-30 CAPTCHA Alternative
2022-07-17 Offline Music
2022-04-18 Snake '97 High Scores
2022-01-14 Wearing WHOOP 4.0
2021-12-09 For the love of mini
2021-11-19 Escaping the flat tires
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2021-09-30 Inspiration from a child
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2020-07-09 Repairing a Giro AEON bicycle helmet
2020-06-24 Some thoughts on touch screen user interface design
2020-06-17 Tudor Black Bay 36 long-term review
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2020-05-25 Different ways to visualise health
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2019-11-26 Supernova E3 Pro 2 dynamo powered headlight
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2019-10-19 Flying in a C47-A (DC-3) classic plane
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2019-09-10 Fighting backscatter spam at server level
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2019-08-18 Creating a minimal road bike
2019-07-16 Limitations of sleep tracking using a wearable
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2019-05-24 Dig for dummies
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2018-12-22 Business in a bag
2018-12-06 Do amazing things with a focused mind
2018-11-16 Around town in an electric car
2018-11-02 Is the Apple Watch the modern tool watch?
2018-10-16 Rescuing files from a broken harddisk
2018-10-09 Using a budget Android as main smartphone
2018-09-27 Swimming and cycling with Apple Watch
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2018-02-21 Updating Snake '97
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