Super Worms

Worms are racing down the track like someone just squeezed them out of their rear end. Super Worms from 2003 is a simple racing game that you probably played if you wasted time on the internet around a pub, or simply had a DOS emulator that entertained itself for a while. This isn't the strategy we know from the famous Worms series, but pure arcade racing of three worms against each other and the clock.

The principle is crystal clear — you need to guide your worm through a track full of obstacles, holes and hills. The goal is to get through as fast as possible without unnecessary falls. Each worm behaves differently, has its own weight and physics, so character choice isn't just cosmetics. The graphics are pixelated and simple, as was fitting for the time, but the physics work really makes your brain tick.

The controls are physics-based — essentially it works on the principle of dosing power and angle. You don't want to jerk too hard, or you'll fly across the map. Too gently and you won't get anywhere. It takes a while to get used to, then you're just looking for the optimal route and right timing. Between races you can test different approaches — and that's exactly the part that keeps you playing longer than you'd expect.

Super Worms never went into any big world, but in the nineties and early 2000s there were plenty of things like it — small games on the web, shared via email or ICQ. It was part of a culture where a racing game didn't need three-quarters of a kilogram of code and kilobytes of graphics. Today you'd say the graphics are dated, but that's not what matters — what matters is that the physics in it work.

If you like minimalism, physics and simple but tricky logic, Super Worms is definitely worth playing. It runs fine in a browser, you don't need to remember any keys — just a mouse and patience. It's not a game that'll grab you for eight hours, but playing around with that worm for a bit and racking your brain over those few dozen centimeters between you and the finish line — that's pretty fun stuff.