Earthworm
An autobiographical Bitsy game about some of the physical pain and childhood memories I have experienced.
In this game, I tried to let players inhabit a certain emotional and experiential state.
Controls
Use the arrow keys to move.
Most text advances with “→”.
Comments
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this was beautiful. I have no words for the artwork in the maps; the settings are incredibly well-illustrated and incredibly immersive. you also did an amazing job with the sound effects and with the soundtrack. it's a bittersweet feeling. strange how one can feel nostalgia with someone else's experience, in their own hometown, probably very far away from my own... I also lost someone in a similar way, so I felt quite deeply as I played and cried a little.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments and for connecting so deeply with my work.
I’m sorry that we have gone through something similar. In many ways, making this game was also part of how I processed that experience myself. I worked on it on and off for about a year, and I think time played an important role in shaping it.
I kept going back to what I had written, and little by little, I decided to remove many of the more private and literary parts. Instead, I tried to keep the indirect feelings left behind by grief — the emotions and atmosphere that stayed with me for many years.
You mentioned Han Kang. Unfortunately, I haven’t read her work yet, so I don’t really know how to respond to that comparison. But among all the comments I’ve received, you were the only person who mentioned the “bittersweet” feeling, and that meant a lot to me, because it was something I truly wanted to express.
I think that after experiences like this, the world can feel incomplete. But at the same time, the world never truly stops being beautiful because someone or something is gone. For me, that is where the bittersweet feeling comes from.
There was actually a line in an earlier draft that I later removed:
“For some reason, the summer evening wind still felt warm.”
Thank you again.
yes, it was bittersweet indeed! I felt a deep nostalgia when playing your game. it reminded me of my hometown, of my grandma's cooking, of sundays spent with the family eating at my grandparents' house. it also reminded me of grief, and of how my life was back then, when that person was still around, so back to nostalgia.
I really like the quote you mentioned. “For some reason, the summer evening wind still felt warm.”... as you said, the world still exists and is still beautiful after tragedy. the sky is still blue. the birds still sing. it reminds me of another quote, this one by Robert Frost: "In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on."
and definitely consider reading Han Kang. "We Do Not Part" also discusses grief and tragedy, and oddly enough, it also involves someone recovering from an injury at a hospital.
I’m glad we both feel that the world is still beautiful after everything. I’ll definitely find a chance to read Han Kang. Actually, I already have copies of The Vegetarian and Human Acts at home, haha — my wife was reading them before.
first to download the game, continue to make more!
Thank you！ I’ll continue making more.