Plasmaworm

Now Released for Free by Digital Eel

The best way to describe Plasmaworm is: Snake on acid.

You remember Snake, right? If you're as old as some of us at Manifesto (pardon us while we look for the bedpan), you probably remember it as a little game that's been implemented for everything from the TRS-80 on up... and if you're actually young and probably way hipper than we are, you played it, and probably still do, on your Nokia mobile phone. Little worm crawls around a screen, you hit the arrow keys or directional keypad to change the direction in which it moves, it gets longer over time, and if you run into yourself or a wall, game over.

Pretty simple gameplay, but surprisingly compelling, given that simplicity.

Now imagine that same basic gameplay, with a whole series of powerups and randomly appearing obstacles you need to eat to get bigger and get to the next level, with trippy psychedelic graphics and a techno score that would probably be danceable except that you have to keep your fingers on the keyboard to play, which doesn't give you a lot of freedom of motion for dancing.

Rich says, "So what's different about Plasmaworm? Full 360 degree movement; single player, 2-player cooperative and 2-player deathmatch modes; shooter elements; powerups; boss levels (Fear the dreaded Plasmangler!); trippy trance music and sound effects AND you can create your own levels, "plasma" and music (Yes music!) using the built-in editors to share with other Plasmaworm players!"

This either is your kind of game or it ain't... But if it sounds like it might be, it's a quick download.