the Early Worm by alec

[raw]
made by alec for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

screenshot.png

The early bird gets the worm. but the early worm gets eaten.

Can you make it to the hungry bird before it dies of starvation?

Controls:

Use the arrow keys (or WASD) to move the inch worms tail.
Hold the SPACE bar to switch to controlling the head
Try swinging back and force to build momentum. This helps when turning.
good luck!

Credits:

Alec T: Programming, Music
Evan G: Programming, Animations
Sarah K: Artwork
Additional artwork from https://kenney.nl/assets/platformer-bricks
Additional Sound effect from http://soundbible.com/950-Bite.html

Ratings

Overall 212th 4⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Fun 281th 3.846⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 33th 4.298⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1199th 3.676⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 997th 3.779⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Audio 130th 4.088⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Humor 398th 3.612⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Mood 436th 3.83⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Given 9🗳️ 6🗨️

Feedback

Gray Fustos
20. Apr 2020 · 22:33 UTC
Wow, QWOP for worms. Super well done! great job.
sprouty51
21. Apr 2020 · 22:18 UTC
A funny use of the theme. I think this is a very clean and fun submission
Ava Rae
21. Apr 2020 · 22:20 UTC
Ok, this idea is SO neat! Mechanically it's really tricky to get around turns, but it feels amazing in a straight line. The third level, I think, had me a bit stuck at the start, sorta pinned between the walls, and it took a while to wiggle free. I love this concept, and it was brilliantly executed, well done!
Marcio Miranda
21. Apr 2020 · 22:20 UTC
Really fun concept! Enjoyed it a lot!
Rongefilet
21. Apr 2020 · 22:22 UTC
Movements are really tricky but fun to see, painfully managing to just make a turn. Loved the random accordion sounds, very fitting.
Arefnue
21. Apr 2020 · 22:22 UTC
Nice game!
Wikers
21. Apr 2020 · 22:23 UTC
Really good game, its a grat idea!!!! i love it
Amolker
21. Apr 2020 · 22:24 UTC
That lazy bird can't just turn around! :D
Nice game, realy enjoyed it.
SilasAdams
21. Apr 2020 · 22:24 UTC
Very cute, love the audio and the controls are hilariously frustrating (in a good way!)
PrimalShadow
21. Apr 2020 · 22:25 UTC
Cool concept! I really liked the art
irock
21. Apr 2020 · 22:26 UTC
I like how the worm makes accordion sounds. I'm really bad at controlling him, but it makes perfect sense. Good job!

I wish I didn't have to start the whole game over when I die.
MisterJBro
21. Apr 2020 · 22:26 UTC
Nice game! Really liked the use of the music. Still, controlling the worm was a bit hard at the beginning.
OndraSej
21. Apr 2020 · 22:26 UTC
The idea is really cool! I also really liked the music and it kept me at the game longer than expected.

The caterpillar-swinging movement is an interesting idea, but it felt a bit clumsy at times, and it took me a level or two to figure out how to switch between the head and the tail. And even then, it just didn't feel right on a keyboard, and I was getting stuck at walls.

I'm wondering if this would work with multi-touch control (controlling each end with a different finger), or on a gamepad (controlling each end with one stick, and trying to not tear the worm apart).
Benjouille
21. Apr 2020 · 22:27 UTC
That's the best game I played during this jam for now. You nailed it the game works perfectly, the audio interactions are super fun and the controls really playful. Awesome job congratulation.
yodoG
21. Apr 2020 · 22:27 UTC
Took me a while to figure out the controls, but once I got it it was fun. The game plays totally different depending on the browser that I ran it on. It was much easier to play on Firefox. The audio was very choppy in both browsers, but in different ways.
MadHumster
21. Apr 2020 · 22:27 UTC
Music is great. Very fun movement. Great game
Sli
21. Apr 2020 · 22:28 UTC
Interesting mechanics. Good job
21. Apr 2020 · 22:28 UTC
The art, sounds, and animations were fitting and nice. Though the movement dose not feel that responsive, the art makes up for it. Also In the beginning I thought I was the bird, but then I read the description (oops). Over all good job!
21. Apr 2020 · 22:28 UTC
(I posted the last comment). For some reason whenever I hit the "Publish" button it sends the comment and a blank comment. Still good job.
joewolf
21. Apr 2020 · 22:29 UTC
At first I thought "this would be nice with audio", then I moved the worm... amazing! The screen resolution didn't match my screen so I didn't notice the bird health bar at the top. After I saw it by accidentally scrolling I immediately died from the added pressure. Great game, well done!
Maxathon
21. Apr 2020 · 22:30 UTC
I can't get the game to load properly. Stuck at the opening animation with no sound. Bummer!
Griffin76
21. Apr 2020 · 22:31 UTC
The concept is fun but the control are a bit complex to handle.
ExeVirus
21. Apr 2020 · 22:32 UTC
Great Audio!
Great Game!

Enjoyed that a lot and it was really cute. And frustrating. Turns out the best way to turn for me is to hold the opposite direction because I always want to turn on the tail haha.
Alex Zurek
21. Apr 2020 · 22:32 UTC
I agree with others that have commented before regarding difficult to grasp controls. The audio was excellent, the accordion noises while moving complemented the background music. I believe the phrase "QWOP for worms" was a very accurate statement. Nice job!
AntaresValdemar
21. Apr 2020 · 22:32 UTC
That's a cool movement mechanic, took some getting used to but was satisfying once I got the hang of it. Loved how the movement sound coincides harmonically with the background music. Also the bright and cheerful visuals and audio juxtaposed with the dark context made me laugh. Great job!
LoopyPickleHead
21. Apr 2020 · 22:33 UTC
Clean and simple gameplay/mechanics. Whoever did your art gave you a ton of versatility for level design too! Very Impressive!
TheCommonThug
21. Apr 2020 · 22:33 UTC
When you get the controls right it's so freakin satisfying. The music lines up, you actually get to move, it's great. This is the biggest descrepency between "Overall" and "Fun" I have ever given. This game is not fun; why can't I stop playing it?
hexagore
21. Apr 2020 · 22:34 UTC
This was really nice, I pretty much wanted the bird to get its own worms after a while though. So needy! I like how this was a really clean premise, I enjoyed figuring out how to move the worm and things. Nice!
Tsamf
21. Apr 2020 · 22:35 UTC
Neat idea. The Worm sound is kind of loud lol. I could see this being a full game.
pele90
21. Apr 2020 · 22:35 UTC
The controls can get soooo frustrating that when you succeceed in finally moving the worm fluently, you get such nice feeling. The music is simple awesome, and that movement sound, perfect. Art style is perfect for this kind of game. Great job guys.
wheybags
21. Apr 2020 · 22:35 UTC
qwop but you're a sucidial worm


Nice :D
.fpeg
21. Apr 2020 · 22:36 UTC
Really amazing game! I loved it :D
SnowToast
21. Apr 2020 · 22:37 UTC
Nice idea. I liked the forward movement, but steering was very unintuitive. I thought of Snake Pass while playing, which is a nice reference. Graphics and sound are good, but I think the implementation of the theme could be more literal.
Frasse
21. Apr 2020 · 22:37 UTC
This is so neat. The accordion thing is genius. The controls never really 'click', but that just adds to the game. Great work!
bbkate98
21. Apr 2020 · 22:37 UTC
really neat little idea! I love the use of audio and how it works with the worms movement
Forging Foxes
21. Apr 2020 · 22:39 UTC
Really awesome idea and execution! Had an issue with the start of the third level though, you start stuck
Gurglesprain
21. Apr 2020 · 22:42 UTC
God damn that's cool, 5 for innovation. Controls like QWOP, but actually fun 😂
FudgeMcGroobs
21. Apr 2020 · 22:52 UTC
One of my favorite LD46 games! This is so fun and frustrating to play haha. Reminds me of QWOP
mrpossoms
21. Apr 2020 · 23:06 UTC
Very cool! Definitely QWOP like, and similarly challenging :smile:
LiquidFunk
22. Apr 2020 · 11:12 UTC
Really cozy game, the accordion sound effect was great and worked really well with the music score.
hwaet
27. Apr 2020 · 02:29 UTC
The controls had me laughing the whole time. Nice touch on the sound effects/music. Great job!