Heartworm

• Title — Heartworm • Developer — Vincent Adinolfi • Publisher — DreadXP • Composer — * Vincent Adinolfi • Platforms — Linux MacOS Windows • Released — July 31, 2025 • Genre — Survival horror • Modes — Single-player

• Illustration — Screenshot Heartworm is an exploration and survival horror game with a fixed-perspective and tank controls, similar to Silent Hill and Resident Evil. The game features an inventory management system which assists the player to solve puzzles to progress the game, and simple combat mechanics using an over-the-shoulder perspective to 'shoot' enemies using a camera. The game also features interactable notes to further convey the story.

Sam, a girl experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, has developed an obsession with death and the deaths of those close to her, and is seeking ways to contact the dead. She finds an online message board with users discussing ways to contact the dead, including a house in the mountains that has a connection to the afterlife. Sam sets out to the house to find out its secrets for herself.

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. 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." 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.