Woodworm

A magical mishap reduces a woodworker to a tiny grub, turning an ordinary workshop into a giant, puzzle-filled landscape of timber blocks and carefully planned cuts. Woodworm is a compact grid-based logic game built around an unusually tactile idea: rather than assembling a shape, you eat away everything that does not belong. Its tone is charming and playful, but the puzzles quickly demand the kind of deliberate forethought that makes every successful final bite feel earned. The expanded version of the original PICO-8 release adds a fuller audiovisual presentation and many more designs to carve.

Each board presents a target sculpture, and your job is to guide the grub through bite-sized sections of wood without ruining the shape you need to leave behind. Movement is simple and immediately readable, yet planning routes becomes increasingly important as narrow connections, awkward angles, and inaccessible areas force you to think several moves ahead. Trial and error is part of the process, encouraging players to study the grain-like grid, reset when necessary, and gradually learn efficient carving techniques. Progress comes through a growing selection of increasingly intricate wooden forms rather than combat, resource management, or reflex-heavy challenges, making it well suited to short, focused sessions.

What makes Woodworm memorable is how cleanly it turns subtraction into puzzle design: every move feels like a small physical act of sculpting, and the finished pieces provide a satisfying visual payoff. The workshop setting gives its minimalist challenges a sense of scale and personality without distracting from the central logic. Upgraded visuals and sound help the experience feel more substantial than its tiny retro-inspired origins, while controller and Steam Deck support make it especially convenient as a portable brain-teaser. Fans of Sokoban-style planning, spatial puzzles, and games such as A Monster’s Expedition should find plenty to enjoy, while newcomers benefit from its intuitive rules and steadily rising challenge.