Play Snood Online

By Mike Johnson

At first glance, Snood looks like it could be an easy game to play, but if you play Snood online you will soon come to learn that it requires a lot of patience and strategy. Proper play requires hand-eye coordination as well as knowledge of simple physics. Thanks to the Internet, there are many places where you can play Snood and other games completely free.

What is Snood

Snood came out in 1996, and it was originally bundled with new computers as a free game, just like solitaire and hearts. It soon became a fun and addicting way to pass the time, as it's easy to play but complex to defeat.

Gameplay

You are presented with a field of colorful bubbles that you have to break with other bubbles. Your goal is to match the bubble being shot with bubbles of the same color in the playing field in order to clear them away (much like matching shapes in Tetris to clear away lines of blocks). When the bubbles are broken they go away. New lines are added and, depending on the version of Snood, stray bubbles either fall away or slide over and connect to other bubble formations.

Some of the games of Snood will pop the bubbles that are touching a group of three. In other games you will find that the target color will break around the other colors, but they will slide over to form new rows. In yet another variation, the other bubbles fall off and vanish. After you play the game a few times, you will learn quickly which style of Snood you are dealing with, and this will allow you to formulate a strategy for winning.

In most cases, there is an arrow at the bottom of the screen and an ammunition bar showing you which color bubble is coming up next. This allows you to think ahead and plan where you want to land your shots. If you have no valid targets, then your bubble simply sticks to whatever color it hits. Much like Tetris, if you continue to not pop bubbles the playing field descends until it reaches the bottom and the game is over.

The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same

In order to avoid licensing fees, programmers have created games that resemble the original Snood. These games are then posted online for players to play for free without downloading software - normally made in Flash. The complexity and style of play changes slightly from game to game, but the overall concept remains the same: pop bubbles of the same color. Bonuses or special "trigger" graphics may be added. You can also find Snood games by searching for Bubble Breaker or Bubble Popper - the designs change slightly but still maintain the same basic gameplay.

Where to Play Snood Online

The Internet is a treasure trove of free online gaming. You can play Snood online - in its many variations and incarnations - at numerous websites.

Pogo offers Snood in one of its purest forms, completely free. Although the game is seemingly simple, the bubbles are not forthcoming, making the game unexpectedly difficult to play and harder still to master. There are, on occasion, black "bomb" bubbles that will explode the bubbles all around them when struck.
Experience Project Bubble Shooter is Snood. Don't let the name fool you! This particular version of the title allows you to change some settings to make it easier or harder to play. The bubbles are more detailed, as is the popping. The vector lines (how straight the bubbles fly) are spot on path. The bubbles also fly faster and have a slight bounce.

The two sources above represent two of the better versions of Snood available online. There are many other sites out there offering Snood for free and to download. Search for additional options for even more gaming fun.