Pro Tip: Keep your volume turned up for maximum "Incoming!" warnings.
There's a lot of Wormy goodness spread out across the last three decades and change - dozens of games, events, awards and milestones. This detailed dossier will give you the full breakdown of every release in the series, as well those important precious moments you just can't miss.
1990-1994
Young Andy Davidson began programming an artillery game on a calculator, later moving to the Amiga home computer and, uh, "borrowing" sprites from Lemmings. His friends loved it. His teachers less so - it got banned from school computers! Our reign of chaos started small, but it would soon grow…
When a British Amiga magazine held a game programming contest, Andy rewrote his artillery game from scratch and sent it in. He didn't win - turns out he was supposed to include the source code and he, um... didn't. Whoops!
Not to be discouraged, Andy took the game to ECTS - a London-based game industry trade show - in search of a publisher. He showed it to Team17 (hey, that's us!), and was offered a publishing deal on the spot. It's almost like we could see the future. We couldn't, but sometimes it's nice to pretend.
Check out this footage of Total Wormage, the build of the game that Andy took to ECTS that earned him a wizard publishing deal!
1995-1997
This is it. Where it all began. Worm against worm. Boggy B, shivering on patrol, not yet knowing the glory he would achieve. Tons of awards. Millions of copies sold worldwide. The approval of our parents and/or loved ones. Are we proud? Ooh, just a bit. Go on, let us have this one.
If you went out to the movies in the UK in the winter of 1995, maybe you saw this ad for the game! Or maybe you didn't and, like most people, you found it hidden on the CD-ROM for Worms: Reinforcements.
Worms won high praise from gaming magazines, and a bunch of awards including Most Original Game of the Year at the European Computer Trade Show awards. Spain voted it Game of the Year. The whole country! We assume they went door-to-door to ask everyone.
Before the internet, you had to get new content like custom maps and voice packs from magazine coverdiscs and compilation CD-ROMs. Unofficial releases like Oh Yes… More Worms! came out to provide ancient Wormers with their earliest access to extra stuff, and showed that there was a hunger for more.
How do you top the biggest strategy game of 1995? Make it bigger! Worms: Reinforcements added a metric ton of new stuff to the PC version, including new features and a single-player campaign. If Worms is a big sandwich, Reinforcements is the condiments, the side, and your choice of beverage.
Which makes Worms United the Meal Deal - the original game and the expansion pack all bundled together in one delicious package. Much better than a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps.
CD-ROM versions of Worms featured these animated FMVs - that's "full motion video", kids! - that helped established the game's quirky, cartoony feel.
Did we mention that Andy's parents had a concrete donkey in their garden? As a kid, Andy would chip away at the stone, convinced he'd find a real donkey underneath. That inspired the creation of one of the most powerful weapons in the next Worms game...
Team17 said goodbye to the Amiga in style by giving it the best version of the original, lovingly crafted by Worms creator Andy Davidson himself. But it wasn't the end - indeed, much of what went into this amazing entry would inform the series’ future…
1997-2003
Not content to just bung in a bunch of new weapons, our crack team of sinister agents crafted a new cartoony look for Worms 2 – less realism, more crash-bang-wallop. We also brought the battle online for the very first time. Oh, and we bunged in a bunch of new weapons. Cloned Sheep, anyone?
Worms 2 featured a whole new set of animated vignettes, further cementing the new toonified aesthetic. These would later appear in some console ports of Worms Armageddon and Worms World Party.
There's a lot of big milestones for a young game franchise. Their first release. Their first words (or, y'know, voiceover recording session). But none so special as their first steps... into the world of branded spin-offs. They grow up so fast. *sniffle*
A bumper collection covering almost the entire series up to this point. What a bargain!
A huge arsenal, even better online multiplayer options and a bigger, beefier single-player experience. There’s a reason Worms Armageddon is still beloved by the community. And it’s… y’know, it’s all of those things we just said.
Feeling his work was done, Andy Davidson left Team17 during the development of Worms Armageddon. But this wasn't the last we'd see of him...
A special remix of Armageddon, crafted specially for the Sega Dreamcast and released on tons of systems - including the N- Gage! With more missions, multiplayer modes and mayhem added to the mix, Worms World Party sent the second generation out with a bang. Or several bangs if the game runs long.
We took the beloved “stuff moving down a well” puzzle genre and injected a Wormsy blend of nominally-few-holds-barred competitive explodery. For the first time, we saw what motivates Worms outside of the battlefield. Turns out it’s fruit. Look, we’re just as surprised as you are.
This was a big day for people who like buying three kinds of one thing. We even threw in a demo of Worms Blast. I know, we're nice like that.
Move over, Snake - there’s a new mobile game in town. Worms on your phone, eh? This could catch on!
2003-2005
The game that introduced Worms to its greatest enemy yet: Depth. By which we mean the third dimension not, y’know, philosophy and existentialism and the like (look out for the 2028 release of Worms vs Sartre: Troubled Sheep). Everything you love about Worms, in 3D for the very first time. Bliss!
Meanwhile, over on your pre-smart flip phones and the like, it’s Golf! Hmm. We’ll have to come back to this one…
3D Worms was barely a year old when we took a stab and bending the formula into new shapes (mostly grid shapes). There's a Trojan Donkey in this game. If only there were a big media release we could reference here, some recent pop culture event we could make a joke about. Oh well. It'll come to us.
This one further refined the 3D version of the game and brought better maps, a new selection of increasingly bonkers weapons, and an answer to the question that has plagued mankind since the days of the early cavemen: Would a worm look good with a handlebar moustache?
The 3D generation ends here, but we'll have one more 3D detour before we reach the end of our story...
2006-2012
A proper, full-fat Worms game on handheld for the first very time, featuring the original weapon lineup (more or less), Worms: Open Warfare brought the game back to a simpler time, when all a worm had to worry about was a well-aimed grenade and occasional exploding produce.
One of the most downloaded Xbox Live Arcade games of 2007, this home console version of Worms: Open Warfare reintroduced the core game to a whole new generation of kids, adults, and students who should have been revising rather than playing this online until 3 in the morning. You know who you are.
Where the original Open Warfare went back-to-basics, this one blew up the basics in favour of bringing back even more weapons, adding new ones, and expanding the single-player experience. Y'know, just in case asking strangers on the bus if they'd like to be blown up didn't yield the desired results.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… but do add motion controls (it was the noughties, everyone was doing it). This entry sent Worms blasting out into the cosmos with a suitably spacey-wacey artillery. How no one else ever thought of putting worms into a scifi setting before this is, frankly, baffling.
We probably could've come up with a better name for this one...
...and we did when we released the expanded version on PC and Mac the following year. Hindsight, eh? It's 20:20. These games brought the cartoon-flavoured chaos of to a whole new generation, while introducing some new innovations along the way. Turrets! Genius.
A classic 2D title focused on customisation, single-player challenges, and ranked online play. Features a Smörgåsbord of the most delicious weapons from Reloaded and Open Warfare 2. (No, it's not a food-focused game, but how often do you get the chance to type "Smörgåsbord"? Look at those vowels!)
We took everything from Worms 3D and Worms 4: Mayhem, bundled it together into one title, and upgraded the visuals - now you can enjoy worms with handlebar moustaches in glorious high-definition. Hey, let it never be said that we don't give the fans what they want.
Remember that little mobile game we made yonks ago? We thought it was such a brilliant idea that we fleshed it out into a full-size 2D golfing game where the golf ball is a grenade. Who wouldn't love that? Well, besides the groundskeeping staff.
Good things continue to come in threes, and that includes bundles. Ooh, this is the third bundle on the list! Coincidence? Yes.
2012-2015
Classes! Physics! Splashable water! But enough about my Sixth Form swimming lessons. Revolution added physics objects that could become dislodged from the terrain, spillable thrillable water, and unique classes that provide different tactical advantages... and weaknesses!
Returning from hiding like a green puppet man in an 80s scifi movie, Worms creator Andy Davidson made a brief but notable return to Team17 to help shape Worms Revolution before telling us that there was another Skywalker and promptly vanishing again.
For this game we enlisted the gravy-smooth vocal skills of Matt Berry - him off What We Do in the Shadows, Toast of London, and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace - to narrate the game.
This bundled Worms 2: Armageddon and Worms Revolution on one disc with a ton of DLC. Handy if you didn't have an internet connection, or if you just wanted some more Worms on your shelf.
For this mobile-exclusive sequel, we took the new ideas from Worms Revolution, and added card system for perks and weapons. A card system! In a mobile game! In 2013! How's THAT for a Revolution?
Worms Revolution added new twists to the Worms formula, and Clan Wars refined that experience with a whole new single-player campaign and a selection of new weapons, as well as other tweaks and adjustments. Beware the Winged Monkey!
While PC and console gamers were sinking their teeth into the newest entry, handheld aficionados were treated to this full-fat handheld port of Revolution, complete with all the trimmings - in the form of all available DLC. Yum yum!
A console port of Clan Wars, with some spiffy console-exclusive features. Did we mention that Taskmaster series 10 star Katherine Parkinson voiced the narrator in this one? I know!
Did you know that, up until we released this new remastered version, Worms World Party was the ONLY PC Worms game you couldn't buy online? Everything is here, from the multiplayer missions to the then-new WormPot mode, all dusted off and polished up to run on 2015 PCs.
2016-2023
Vehicles, buildings, weapon crafting, a hefty single-player campaign, and the most robust online experience in the series to date, all wrapped in an aggressive new art style. Plenty to keep you occupied for, ooh, shall we say about a decade?
Worms Armageddon had received updates and support for 21 years, but 2020 saw the biggest update to date - huge quality-of-life improvements and compatiblity fixes for modern operating systems. Made with love by the community, for the community. D'aww.
A 21st century twist on the classic Worms formula, this one lets you tussle with up to 32 players in an all-out real-time on-line bat-tle roy-ale (sorry, we bought a job lot of hyphens and have to use them all before they ex-pire).
25 years earlier, Worms made its debuts on floppy disks, CD-ROMs, and small grey plastic cartridges. So we celebrated by putting three of our favourite retro Worms titles on a brand new small grey cartridge. Or make that FOUR games, if the Team17 Collection 1 cart is inserted at the same time...
A slightly stripped-down version of W.M.D., built to play on the go. Perfect for your daily commute. Although maybe not if you're the one driving.
Releasing the PC version of Worms Armageddon on consoles for the first time would've been classy enough on its own, but this version comes with a sprawling documentary covering the origins of the series and beyond, right up to the present day! (Assuming the present day is still 2024.)
Worms finally invaded the real world in the form of a board game! To some, the words "Worms on your tabletop" means grabbing some wet wipes and a plastic bag. For the rest of us, it has the makings of a perfect game night. (Bring the bag anyway - you can use it to pick up your victims' body parts.)
We put a story in this one. We couldn't help it. One minute we were in a conference room discussing new features, the next we were feverishly writing an epic narrative about a reality-bending machine capable of destroying the multiverse. I know, I know. Look, we can't promise it won't happen again.
For the 30th anniversary, Andy Davidson emerged from the shadows once again to curate a spectacular expansion pack of brand-new content for Worms: The Director's Cut on the Amiga - maps, sample sets, terrains and more. Plenty to keep this classic version of the game going for another thirty years.
2026 +
Our next spinoff will send you blasting off into the depths of space with our Roguelike take on tactical combat. It's everything you love about Worms smushed together with the Tactics genre. Plus, there's cake! Who can say No to cake?
What, you think we don't have MORE up our sleeves? Well, we do! Which is impressive, considering technically we don't have arms. So make your eyes like Banana Bombs and keep 'em peeled. More details to come!
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