Harbor, Classic, Tempest: picking your pace
Most worm games ship one speed and let you like it or leave. Wormifi rooms carry a pace setting, because the same arena at two speeds is genuinely two different games.
The three paces
Harbor is the patient default: a slower long-run speed with time to read the arena, plan a route, and survive your own ambitions. Classic preserves the original Wormifi tempo for players who grew up on it — noticeably faster, still readable. Tempest is high pressure: less reaction time, shorter fuses, for captains who want the game to punish hesitation. One pace applies to a whole live room, chosen when the room is created.
What actually changes
Speed in this genre isn't just velocity — it's how much of the game is planning versus reflex. At Harbor, the positional game dominates: you can watch a pinch develop and still escape it. At Tempest, the same pinch is a coin you flipped three seconds ago. Sprint economics shift too: the faster the room, the more expensive a mistimed sprint becomes, because everyone else closes distance sooner on the mass you dropped.
Choosing honestly
New players: Harbor, without embarrassment — it's the default because the game is simply better when you can see it. Veterans of other worm games usually feel at home in Classic. Tempest is for the itch that Wormate players know: maximum tempo, accepted chaos. In a friend room, set the pace to your least experienced player — a room where one person can't keep up is fun for nobody, including the winners.