Worms World Party

Worms: World Party is a turn-based strategy game released for Windows, Playstation, Game Boy Advance, N-Gage and Pocket PC. It was developed by Team17 and was released in 2001. It was the last 2D Worms game before the series' three year stint in 3D, starting with Worms 3D.

Like its predecessors, Worms: World Party involves controlling a team of Worms and using a collection of weaponry to eliminate the opposing team(s). The player can play against the computer, or can play against people on the same computer or over the Internet or LAN (TCP/IP and IPX supported).

The player can set up many options prior to battle to tailor the experience. There are also single player and multiplayer missions available to help refine the player's skills with the various weapons and utilities.

There is a plan to make Worms Armageddon and Worms: World Party cross compatible when WA reaches v4.0. Since the development of new WA patches is quite slow it can take quite a long time until that cross compatibility ever happens.

Online Gaming
The online gaming community in both Worms Armageddon and Worms: World Party revolutionized the game, with users creating their own game types and rules and playing by them. Many different games were created, and this led to the mass creation of maps, clans, and even leagues which all had their own websites.

The majority of the games invented are based around usage of the Ninja Rope, a device which the Worm can use to latch onto, and swing around the landscape.

Shopper
Shopper is a game type in which you must collect one Crate before attacking (CBA), attack from the Rope (AFR), and then, depending on rules specified, either kill the leading player or attack everyone but the last player (KTL & ABL respectively).

Shopper first appeared in the late 1990s and has since become one of the most popular online game modes in Worms Armageddon and Worms: World Party. The main rules to Shopper are CBA, AFR, KTL/ABL. CBA stands for Crate Before Attack, this means the player must collect a Weapon Crate before attacking the enemy. AFR stands for Attack From Rope, this means the player must launch the weapon of choice while swinging from a Ninja Rope, however some weapons such as the Shotgun, Flame Thrower and Fire Punch are exempt from this rule. KTL/ABL stands for Kill The Leader/All But Last, meaning the person who is winning the game is the target (or anyone but the player in last place). Anyone can be attacked as long as the leader suffers damage, even slightly. The leader on his turn, will target the player in second place.

If a player breaks one or more of these rules then that player is the "Cow". The other players (on the ingame chat) should say "Cow" to notify a break in the rules. the "Cow" will have to skip their next turn in accordance to the rules. if the "Cow" does not skip, then other players may KTC (Kill the Cow) in which all players attack the "Cow" to remove him or her from the game.

"Knocking" refers to when a player will push another Worm without the use of a weapon. This technique involves letting go of the Ninja Rope so that the player's Worm falls into another Worm causing the latter Worm to be pushed, usually off an edge or into an obstacle. The player's Worm will also slide along with the pushed Worm, in which if they go off the edge of the terrain, the knocking Worm may use a Parachute so as not to fall along with the knocked Worm. This technique is not an attack.

WxW
WxW is based upon the same rules as those of a Shopper game, except a lot more skill is required and one must touch a certain number of walls before attacking.

RopeRace
RopeRace is based upon a maze-like map containing a start and a finish. The rules for this game are, you must place your Worms at the start, no Rope Knocking (Knocking other Worms using the Ninja Rope, either yours or your opponent's) and first to the finish wins. Another version of this is TimeTrial RopeRace, in which you have infinite time to complete the level. Once all Worms have had a single turn, whoever made it to the finish in the least amount of time wins.

Fly
Fly is based upon the same rules as those of a Shopper game, however, an extra rule (FBA) is added. The player must "fly" over the centre point of the map, which will most likely be a high or wide object. Techniques of flying include letting go of the Ninja Rope just after bouncing off a wall to send the Worm flying, or swinging around a loose pixel.

Trivia

 * Worms: World Party was originally developed because Sega, at that time supporting the Dreamcast, wanted a Worms game which can be played online through the Dreamcast server. And because Worms Armageddon didn't have it, Team17 had to develop a new game. But Team17 realized that releasing it only on the Dreamcast wouldn't make much profit, so they released it on multiple platforms. This is why there's not much improvement over Worms Armageddon.
 * It was also originally supposed to be a simple expansion pack for Worms Armageddon, but due to the success of the franchise, Team17 added new features, changed some of the music, and made it into a whole new game (although it's still quite similar to Worms Armageddon).