Game Overview: 

Wanna slither haphazardly through a minefield on a pointless quest for explosive, herpetological glory? Of course you do! Three decades after PC games Minesweeper and Snake consumed hours of everyone's time, we're COMBINING the twin dangers of snakery and randomly exploding into a month-long blowy-uppy digital slither. Put on your snakeskin cowboy boots and matching bomber jacket and get ready for action! 

What you should do: 

Before the game begins, (September 1), use the handy link at the bottom of this page to submit your directions to the Grand Poobah. 

How it works: 

Movement overview: You're an 8-bit snake cruising across a grid. Each weekend, each surviving snake will grow a certain number of spaces (technically, points) forward. If your snake slithers across a bomb, GAME OVER for you! If it avoids the bombs, you survive the round. Your snake begins Round 1 on your chosen starting point on the grid. In weeks 2-4 your snake continues from the point where it finished the previous week. 

Hero rule: When a Player’s snake detonates a mine, that mine is eliminated. That point is made safe for any future snakes who cross it.
 

Touchy rule: Unlike the classic computer game Snake (and Tron’s light bikes), snakes MAY cross one another, as well as themselves.

Serpent Growth Hormone (SGH): Lowest Powerball number (white or red ball) drawn on the preceding Wednesday. 
 

How many spaces, and which direction? For every round, each player’s snake will grow in a different direction.  Her first assigned Powerball number is added to that week's Serpent Growth Hormone. The result is the number of spaces that player's snake will grow in her chosen direction. 

Example: Penelope has chosen the direction UP for a particular round.
   11 = Penelope's assigned lottery number for that week
+ 4  = SGH
   15 = number of spaces her snake will grow UP that turn. 
 

Wrap-around rule: The board “wraps around” like a Pac-Man screen. So if the head of your snake is 5 spaces from the left border and then has to grow 25 spaces Left, it will grow 5 spaces to the Left until it reaches the left border, then will continue Left from the right border 20 more spaces (like attacking Kamchatka from Alaska in a game of RISK). 
 

Week 1: Player's 1st assigned lottery number + SGH (1 growth spurt)

Week 2: Player's 2nd assigned lottery number + SGH (1 growth spurt)
Week 3: Player's 3rd assigned lottery number + SGH, then Player's 4th assigned lottery number (2 growth spurts)
Week 4: Player's 4th assigned lottery number + SGH, then Player's special Powerball number (2 growth spurts)

Note: If casualties are too high, Grand Poobah may opt to omit certain "growth spurts" so the game doesn't end prematurely.

Winning the game:

The last surviving Player will be declared the winner of the game. If more than one player remains slithering after the final round, the Player with the longest snake will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the Standard Tiebreaker will be applied to determine exactly one winner.