What is Snakillion?
Snakillion is the English version of Fazan, the word chain game every Romanian child knows. Someone says a word, the next player answers with a word that starts with its last two letters, and the chain goes round: garden, energy, gymnast, story… and now somebody needs a word that starts with ry. Whoever gets stuck loses the round and takes a letter. The first to spell S-N-A-K-E, is out. Like a snake eating its tail, the end of every word becomes the start of the next.
It is played in classrooms, on long car trips and at family dinners, with nothing but words. Here you play it in English against the computer, with a dictionary of about 274,000 words to keep everyone honest.
How to play Snakillion
- Each round starts with a word. If it is your turn, type a word that begins with its last two letters. Pencil asks for a word starting with il: illness, illusion, ilk.
- Words need three letters or more and must be real English words. Plurals and verb forms count. No word twice in a round.
- You have twenty seconds. If time runs out, or you give up, you lose the round and get the next letter of S-N-A-K-E.
- The computer plays by the same rules. When it is stuck, it takes the letter.
- The first player to spell the whole word SNAKE loses the game.
Closing words
In Romanian, a word whose ending starts no other word closes the round: nobody can answer it, so whoever said it wins. English has far too many of them (hand, back, class, gift, world, camp and ant all close), so the game would be over in one move. Here an ending counts as closing when fewer than twenty English words start with it. That is why closing words are not allowed in the default rules: you win by leaving your opponent an ending that is hard, not impossible. Pick Classic to play the Romanian way, where a closing word wins the round, except as the first answer.
How to win at Snakillion
- Leave hard endings. Few everyday words start with ry, ok, ub, oy or ia. A word like story, book, club, boy or India leaves your opponent with very little.
- Avoid easy ones. Words ending in er, re, st or an hand over hundreds of answers.
- Keep a few escape words. Know one word for each tricky start: ry → rye, ok → okay, ub → ubiquitous, oy → oyster, ia → iambic.
- Think of prefixes. Two letters often start a common prefix: un, re, in, de, co. Add any word you like after it.
Questions
- Why is it called Snakillion?
- A snake eats its tail: the last two letters of each word become the first two of the next. The name joins snake with the -illion of Icillion and Hangillion. In Romania the game is called Fazan, which means pheasant, and you may know it by that name.
- Is Snakillion the same as Shiritori or the English word chain game?
- They are cousins. Shiritori, from Japan, and most English word chain games use only the last letter. Snakillion uses the last two, which makes the endings much harder and lets you trap your opponent.
- Can I play Snakillion with friends?
- Yes. Press Play with friends, open a room and send the link: two to six players, each with their own snake, take turns on the same chain. Everybody sees what the player on turn is typing, and every word is checked against the dictionary. It also works around a table with just the rules above. For trivia rooms try Seal Circle, or Hangillion, the dark hangman, which has rooms too.
- Is it free?
- Yes, with no sign-up and no limit on games.
More word games: Hangillion · word lists A–Z · today’s Icillion iceberg