Heartworm (video game)

Adinolfi stated that development of Heartworm was in part a "platform to express my feelings from dealing with (mental health)," with the game's themes being partly autobiographical. He stated the initial development of the demo avoided establishing a "traditional narrative" with a focus upon "getting the atmosphere right" and establishing the gameplay, with inspiration taken from horror game titles including Silent Hill.^[1] Adinolfi stated that the 1998 game Half-Life was also an inspiration, stating he "tried to take cues from games like Half-Life in the way that Valve uses environment design to naturally develop the narrative."^[2] Adinolfi stated he was inspired to create Heartworm after playing games developed by Puppet Combo, citing the desire to create a game that did not require high-quality graphics to be effective.^[1]

The demo release of Heartworm received positive reception from critics, with several writing on the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc citing the game as a highlight of the compilation and raising favorable comparisons to Silent Hill.^[3][4] Writing for Rock Paper Shotgun, Alice O'Connor praised the game's presentation, citing its "late-nineties feel, including lovely unfiltered textures, raw dithering, and Resident Evil-style animations".^[5] Ian Marvin of Dread XP stated that "while the demo itself does not offer much...it does set the tone well and illustrates Vincent’s familiarity with the genre and the style of classic survival horror games."^[1] Lor Gislason stated the game was a "self-professed love letter to classics, and it shows."^[6] Writing for RE:BIND, Catherine Brinegar stated that the game was a "real gem" in the Haunted PS1 Demo Disk collection, praising the game as "whip-smart and tightly made".^[7]