Worming from Home Review (PC)

Worming from Home scratches an itch that I didn’t even know I had. At no point did I ever consider the idea of wriggling around as an invertebrate, fiddling the stock market and flirting with co-workers in a rainbow-laced jacket. And yet, there I was, slamming my spineless head into a keyboard, mashing buttons and desperately clicking a mouse in an attempt to gain that ever-elusive promotion. I had absolutely no idea what was happening, yet I never thought twice about it. I was a worm, and I had a job to do. I guess I just wasn’t entirely sure what the job was.

Whoever penned the idea for Worming from Home deserves a raise, because while it technically shouldn’t work, it does. Minced with some oily ragdoll physics and a floppy environment that’s full of kooky bits and pieces, challenges and sandbox elements, the game itself clearly has all of the trappings of a memorable affair that can linger on your mind long after Wall Street steps in to claim your paycheck. The fact that you can spend your spare time pumping iron at the gym says it all, really. Add a slither of romance to the mix and you have quite the kooky concept on your hands.

A job simulator at heart, Worming from Home invites you to step into the spineless world of finance—a place where you can rightfully earn a name for yourself as a jack-of-all-trades analyst who can—and it’s best not to ask too many questions here—diddle the stock market and answer phone calls, as well as complete various odd jobs and unlock various cosmetics, like hats. But of course, it’s easier not to ask questions or linger on the details here. Worming from Home is a bit of an oddball, and it knows it all too well.

As you could probably imagine, taking on the role of an invertebrate comes with its restrictions: you can’t use your fingers to type, and you definitely cannot use your legs to walk freely between job postings. Thanks to its rag doll physics, every task that you tackle here comes with a different kind of problem for you to deal with. If the phone rings, for example, then you must use all of your strength and energy to answer it. If the job requires you to sign your name along the dotted line, then you must take ahold of a pen and deliver your best squiggle. And the same rule applies for most of the tasks in Worming from Home. Nothing is easy, though the work does often culminate in some bashful outcomes.

For a rather ridiculous concept, Worming from Home certainly pours a lot of heart and soul into its design. Unlike your bog-standard physics-oriented sandbox in which you would naturally fly the coop and wreak havoc in any manner you deem fit, Worming from Home offers a sense of purpose—a goal for you to work towards. For example, you can check your daily agenda, meet deadlines, and bury yourself in various office duties whilst working towards a specific target. You have jobs that often require a certain skill, perks that require a set amount of cash, and random tasks that allow you to tap into your inner worm and roam rampantly through the world. It’s all a little bonkers I’ll admit, but that’s sort of what makes it an absolute delight to slog through.

In any case I’d argue that the stock market is a boring place to dabble in. As a worm, however, it has its own special benefits. Colorful hats and skins aside, the job itself has a treasure trove of unique opportunities for you to wax your inner weirdo. With a checklist of tasks to rifle through—jobs that range from filling out spreadsheets to signing paperwork, answering calls to gathering insider information about the stock market, to list just a handful—Worming from Home keeps you from falling into the monotonous nine-to-five trap. Is it easy, to be a worm in a dog-eat-dog world? No. Is it fun, to lift weights and to flirt with colleagues? Yes — and that’s what I’m willing to take away from it.

While Worming from Home is a rather short game (three hours, at a push), it does provide a lot of bits and pieces for you to experiment with. From the keys on the keyboard to the interactive objects, the NPCs to the light platforming mini-games, and just about everything in between — true to its word, the game packs a lot of fun into an otherwise short and unusual experience. Of course, it can be an absolute nightmare to play, given the fact that you are a worm and, as a result of that, the polar opposite of a competent office monkey. But then, its wackiness and its flimsy mechanics are what make it so darn charming.

Suffice it to say that, if you enjoy eccentric chore core simulation games à la Manual Samuel, The Stanley Parable, or Goat Simulator, then you will more than likely love Worming from Home. While still on the shorter side of the spectrum, it makes up for its lack of coverage with a stupendously entertaining and chaotic sandbox environment that is, weirdly, a lot of fun to scramble around in for a while.

Verdict

Worming from Home wriggles its way into the heart of the weird and the wonderful with a totally bonkers, far-from-spineless chore-oriented sandbox that is as equally hilarious as it is frustrating to slither through. With some comical moments, absurd mini-games, and a cast of unlikely characters to bulk out the office, it takes water cooler small talk to a whole new level. Usually, I’d say that such a concept shouldn’t work against the backdrop of a stock market setting. As it turns out, though, it does — and I couldn’t be happier about that.

If you have a few hours to spare and a bit of extra cash to splurge on a nonsensical job simulator that caters to a pretty niche market, then you should definitely consider signing your name on the dotted line in this corporate space. You don’t need a backbone to get a promotion, but you do need a good sense of humor to acknowledge the fact that, win or lose, worms aren’t likely to conquer the stock market at any point in the near future.