LED Snake Game

November 2025

ArduinoLED MatrixSolderingGame Development

About This Project

For this one I actually soldered 64 LEDs together by hand to make an 8x8 grid, then wired it up to an Arduino Nano to bring the classic Snake game to life on real lights instead of a screen. I used a joystick to control the snake's direction and programmed all the game logic myself — moving the snake, growing it when it eats, and detecting when it crashes into itself. Getting all the soldering right took a while, but once it was wired up, actually seeing Snake running on real LEDs I built was worth it.

Technical Challenges

The game sped up too fast at higher scores, which made it almost unplayable, and the joystick had a noticeable input delay that made quick turns tricky.

What I Learned

Got a ton of hands-on soldering practice wiring 64 individual LEDs, and learned how much game feel depends on tuning things like speed scaling and input response time.

Project Goal

Hand-soldered a 64-LED grid and programmed a playable Snake game on an Arduino Nano.

Engineering Focus

Focused on soldering an LED grid, game logic and collision detection, and joystick input handling.

Skills Used

Arduino, LED Matrix, Soldering, Game Development