''Warring Worms'' is an

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

video game based on the 1976 arcade game ''

Blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...

'' (the concept of which has since become known as "

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

"). ''Warring Worms'' was written by Billy Eno and published in 2002 under the Baroque Gaming label. It was Eno's first released 2600 game. An updated version was released in 2005 as ''Warring Worms: The Worm (Re)Turns''. It has additional modes such as random mode, in which the game options are randomized between each round. At 8 KB it is double the game's original size of 4 KB.

Gameplay

''Warring Worms'' is an action game, similar to the Atari 2600 launch title ''

Surround Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to sur ...

'', which itself is based on the 1976 ''

'' arcade game. Like ''Surround'', the player wins a round by forcing the opponent to crash into a wall. The opponent is controlled by either a second player or the game's AI, depending on the game selection. Unlike ''Surround'', players in ''Warring Worms'' are armed: each worm can control a cannon that fires shots. The shots can be used to kill the opponent, or take out a block of the "trail" left by either player. The game is played using

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

s, and features 80 game variations.

Reception

In 2005, ''Warring Worms'' was named one of the five "Best 2600 Homebrew Games" in the book ''Gaming Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools'' by

Simon Carless Simon Carless is a video game industry businessperson and former game designer and editor. Simon is the founder of GameDiscoverCo, a video game discoverability consultancy firm, and previously worked overseeing the worldwide Game Developers Confere ...

, who described the game as "super-addictive" and praised the ability to fire shots as a "neat twist".

References

External links

''Warring Worms: The Worm (Re)Turns'' at AtariAge
{{Homebrew 2002 video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600 homebrew games Atari 2600-only games Snake video games Video game clones Video games developed in the United States