nuworm
Welcome to nuworm
Learn how to move as you journey from one area to the next and discover surprising behaviours along the way. This game is fairly tricky, but not super long, and you can return to it later and skip to the right level if needed.
I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed making it. The game is free, but it took a long time to make, so support is much appreciated!
Controls
If you play on mobile, or want to review the controls again, this table might help:
| Keyboard | Mobile | |
| Move | Arrow Keys or WASD | Swipe (hold to keep moving) |
| Undo | U or Z | Popout menu -> Undo |
| Restart | R | Popout menu -> Restart |
| Switch Level | Esc | Popout menu -> Level Select |
| Confirm | Enter or X | Tap |
Playtesting Credits :)
Adeal, Blaž Urban Gracar, clickmazes, Deusovi, DigiDuncan, eggydot, el, Ethan Doherty, Hexmaster, Karoo, KerkHerr, kittykat96, Le Slo, Werxzy
How I made the game
This is a puzzle game I've been working on at various points over the last 3 years. It started as a full version of my first Confounding Calendar game, but evolved into something unrecognizable that I am much more excited about.
For the majority of the development time, the game was made using the pattern:script fork of PuzzleScript, then I switched to the PS Next fork, which allowed me to use changing color palettes and level select.
The PuzzleScript Build System (PSBS) allowed me to edit the game in multiple files, easily use version control and even make my own dialect of the programming language. I edited the exported .html with a search/replace script to allow skipping animations or styling the mute button for example. I made the music track with my dad.
I'd love to see your ideas for custom levels or mechanics. If you played through the game and are curious, you can read about my design process in the devlog below.
Thank you for playing!
Development log
- Journey to nuworm23 days ago
Comments
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Amazing Game! So clean and never boring. The design is also superb. Played through it on my phone. Was nice to skip some levels and return to them later. Any suggestion for similarly pollished games here on itch?
an incredible puzzle! I didn't know that single mechanic could be this deep
level 3 is impossible
correction: 2-1 is.
a level screenshot isn’t a huge spoiler, but still decided to remove it - sorry for breaking your fun chain here haha
actually, I'm stuck on the level based on that microban levell in world 3... any hints?
Brilliant puzzle design! I really enjoyed this.
my lp
Stuck on 6.6
The closest I've gotten is with a J shape, with the longer side pointing to the right, but the short side always points to the top which is against the wall.
Nvm figured it out.
Great game, really liked it.
Loved this so much, great job!
A well designed puzzle game. The levels get harder bit by bit, which helps your thinking flow naturally. No two levels fell the same, and no two levels in a row have a huge difficulty gap. It truly deserves a full-star rating.
AMAZING. Thx for the great work, enjoyed every moment here!
Amazing game, loved every second of it!
I LOVE THIS
!!!
👏👏👏👏
Absolutely outstanding game that’s well worth your time!!! 🪱
Absolutely amazing game.
Took me a few hours to fully complete, but figuring out solutions to seemingly impossible puzzles was really satisfying, and the difficulty scaled really well.
Thank you for investing time and effort into this project.
Felt a bit anticlimactic for nggnpuvat guvatf gb gur fgneg naq raq cbvagf bs gur yriry to be intentionally prevented for so long, only for it to be used in one level. I was waiting for a whole section about that (then again I shouldn't judge content that doesn't exist). I also thought world 8's mechanic was a bit...boring in comparison to the others. Other than that, great job - these are some very well-designed puzzles (and I always love it when a game makes a point to never introduce new puzzle elements at all)
I thought it would be… funnier this way, it not actually being a section intro creates more initial confusion? And much more importantly I did not actually see a way to get many other puzzle ideas out of this mechanic - but now I’m thinking about it again and I may be wrong. I did have some plans related to this even early on that were way too ambitious, but I might figure something out and eventually update the game! Will see :)
technically that is used multiple times, but orfvqrf gur svany gvzr, pbaarpgvat gb gur fgneg/raq vf whfg n fvzcyr rkgrafvba naq abguvat snapg
custom mechanic idea: thin walls. they block movement in certain directions, but more importantly, if you push a composite block (or lbhe bja gnvy) into them from the non blocked direction, it will be cut. And they would just look like a rouge wall border.
a simple yet effective idea. and I dont see any spaghetti code lurking within, as aposed to my other idea, which was very spaghettifying.
So basically a can of wormholes fence?
pretty much
I remember playing this game somewhere else and I really liked it, but now I played for the second time just because it is really good.
I guess it is lol
Also I just realised: Jung vs va gur raqvat gur oybpx vf nyernql shfrq jvgu gur fgnegvat cbvag fb lbh pbhyq tebj vasvavgryl naq “rkcyber” gur gunaxf sbe cynlvat fperra vafgrnq bs whfg sylvat bss va bar qverpgvba? (rot13)
deleted because it was a spoiler, sorry! but yep, sure is intentional :)
Yeah, I just don’t know how to put spoiler images here on itch (on discord it’s much easier lol)
Wow amazing game! I often go on itch to play short browser games when I'm bored so this one really surprised me with the overall quality and polish. The puzzle design is great, but also the vibes. Colours, the borders, incredible sound design and the music all make this game feel great to play, even when I'm stuck for an hour because I missed something.
But yeah, like everyone else I'm also stuck and want a hint. Is it ever possible to split a piece you're not controlling? And if not, can you ever split off more than just the head?
Thank you! I did spend a long time on it, which might make it much more reasonable to not “just” make a browser game, haha
I feel okay with not using spoiler text for this: no, you can’t split those pieces. no, you can never split anywhere else in the shape either.
Fantastic sokoban game! Gonna try to 100% complete it.
Having some issues with 7.6 and would appreciate a hint. I’m able to split, but the 2-length tail never has an opening to the side, only up or down.
Thank you! A hint: (rot13)
lbh qba’g arrq gb fcyvg urer, gel fbzrguvat qvssrerag. vg vf eryngrq gb gur cerivbhf gjb yriryf naq orvat noyr gb zbir jvgubhg gur gnvy gheavat.
Thanks, excellent hint!
I really like this game so far, but I'm totally stuck on 5.1. How on earth do you split?
hint (rot13)
lbh fcyvg ol zbivat va fhpu n jnl gung gur gnvy pna abg sbyybj orpnhfr vg vf oybpxrq. gelvat 5.2 zvtug uryc. lbh pna hfr rfp naq fxvc nurnq
This is one of the best puzzle games I have ever played. I even have a new mechanic idea, cross blocks. the way they work is simple, they are a pushable block that you can pass through as the Nuworm. but when used in a bigger worm, instead of bending normally, things keep the same relative possitions to the block, basically, if you have a strait tail behind it, the tail will not be able to bend. and if something would hit a wall from rotating, it falls off, but it can get caught on stuff when moving forwards, T bends can also maybe happen, and would be mostly similar, but the Nuworm wont change directions within them, to prevent any softlocks, (although the Nuworm outside of blocks could be used for ice puzzle nonsence
Hahaha, this idea for how to expand the game (among many others) was running through my mind at some point and it sounds… potentially very hard to keep track of, hard to implement, but also really cool! I think I concluded such a part could basically never bend even with nothing attached… unless there is a clever way…
yeah, its a real spaghetti code idea. that would really only work outside of puzzle script.
also, the twist in 9.6 is so cool, I wish an entire world was based on it. this being the final one, because its that mind blowing.
incredible game, so much depth from such intuitive mechanics <3
Great game, almost good enough to sell for a few dollars. Thanks for making this!
thank you! there is a donate button, but if I wanted to sell it I should have probably made a steam page, trailer, got wishlists, made proper menus, used another engine, all that - in short, taken it much more seriously. Maybe I’ll do it in the future?
can you at least make a downloadable version to play offline
the game is a .html file (+ a .ogg music track), which you can download in some way using the browser developer tools, but that's definitely not the most accessible option ^^
if the website was open and you lose internet, you can keep playing. the progress should get remembered. might be good to write down where you left off, levels can be skipped in the level select!
Really great idea and fun game. I think the tutorials for the new abilities could be made more clear. I got stuck quite a bit on level 2.1 before accidentally fusing two pieces together. Then I got stuck on 3.5 for a while, feeling like I was missing something. I walked away frustrated thinking there was some new under-explained mechanic. Coming back, I see I just missed the puzzle on this one haha.
they could be, yeah… some of the later mechanic intros might be even “worse” in that respect. my hope is that as you get used to the language of the game, it becomes clear that there are few possibilities to even try, and one of them WILL work. a hint system like in Can of Wormholes would be amazing, but perhaps too tricky to add in a puzzlescript game :)
Stuck on 6.5, don't understand how to further split as needed. Tried skipping ahead to the 7s, but also don't understand the mechanic.
hints, if you want them (in rot13)
6.5: gur rkvg zvtug uryc
6.5, second hint: gur birenyy funcr qbrfa'g arrq gb or 3 gvyrf gnyy, vs vg pbaarpgf gb gur rkvg vg fgnlf nobir gur ibvq
7.1: gurer vf n jnl gb orpbzr gjb gvyrf ybat
7.1, second hint: lbh pna znxr n funcr gung yrgf lbh pbaarpg gb gur fvatyr oybpx