yeah I think there is a lot you could play with the patterns of the the snake, and they should be introduced gradually and not being thrown to the player all at once. A simple example is not to have the bomb right in the first level, then at least players can get used to the control and understand the mechanic in safe environment. The thing about the snake not moving right away, Im not really sure if that should be done when players die and respawn because at that point they already know the map and where they are. This I think you need to experiment.