Installing the game was a snap for a computer pro like me. Unfortunately, the auto install part didn’t work, so I had to go find the setup program and run it myself. After that little hitch, things went fine.

Glow Worm has three variations on the same type of game: Puzzle, Adventure, and Classic. I started with Classic. The basic premise of the game is deceptively simple – clear the board by matching colors of glow worms, so that they turn into butterflies (moths?) and fly away. The simplicity vanishes when you get into the color complexities.

Each glow worm has colored spots, of a different color than the worm itself. When you match 4 (or more) glow worms of the same color, they turn into butterflies of the color of the spots. So, you can set up a row of 4 green worms, and then they’ll change into 2 blue and 2 yellow butterflies. This is where the strategy comes in. You’ll want to place your glow worms with the corresponding spots in such a way that when the glow worms transition, they’ll change into butterflies that will also match and vanish, in a cascading event. You get more points for cascades than just plain old matches. Add to that the fact that your butterfly colors count in matching your glow worm colors, and the options add up fast!

Later levels of the Classic mode throw in shrubs that clear when you transform your worms next to them, an exploding snail that clears out blocks around wherever you place him, and my personal nemesis, a color changing slug. Place him on the board, and he changes colors of the worms he’s placed next to, as well as all the others on the board. So, your carefully placed green worms become yellow…causing you to rethink your plans midstream. In addition, there are caged worms that you free by transforming worms around the cages, and additional colors are added to the mix as you go along, which only adds to the complexity of the game.

The other game modes are just as addicting. The Puzzle games are just that. You’re given a pre-designed board, and need to clear out all the worms. The puzzles are laid out in fun or silly patterns, such as a smilie face or a number, and you need to clear 4 of 6 puzzles before you can move on to the next set. I never completed all six of a given set – I was more interested in seeing what the next set of patterns would be.

The Adventure game is like the Classic, with a slight twist. There’s gravity in this game. Instead of your worms remaining where you place them, they drop downward until they hit an obstacle (another worm, a bush, a block, etc). This makes strategy even more important, because you’ll need to plan ahead to make sure you’re dropping the right spots in the right place. Each time you complete a level, your little buddy moves along an adventure path. There are quite a few levels in this version of the game, so I still haven’t made it to the end.

The game has few control options. Fullscreen or not, help hints or not, and two sliders for sound effect and music volume. One of the things I do not like about this game is that windowed mode is not customizable. The game assumes your resolution is 640x480, and makes the corresponding windowed version of the game to size. This is very frustrating on a monitor set to 1280x800. Another thing I am absolutely frustrated with is the fullscreen version. When you exit the game after playing it in fullscreen, something in the code causes my desktop icons to rearrange themselves, as if they were set for a resolution smaller than what I have. I like my icons where they are – other games manage to leave them alone, so I wish Glow Worm would too!

Other than those (admittedly nitpicky) issues, Glow Worm is a surprisingly addictive game. When I first launched it, two hours went by before I even realized it. I wasn’t told what age groups this game is aimed at, but from what I can see, anyone with even simple strategic skills (such as this 40-something gamer) can have a great time. This is definitely a game I will be adding to my library – it will give me a chance to work on my strategic skills!