The game begins by showing a pulsing blue blob arriving on a mysteriously war-torn and devastated planet. It plants itself into the ground and extends a wriggling tentacle. Out of the tentacle emerge 50 swarmites — small, blue, bipedal creatures who always move together in a pack, or swarm. The swarmites go in search of DNA, which the swarmites feed back into the blob to help it grow. The blob eventually transforms into a humongous swarmite referred to by the other swarmites as "momma".Swarm is an action-platform game in which the player controls up to 50 characters known as swarmites who operate as a collective to achieve their goals. The objective is to reach the end of the level with at least one swarmite remaining.[3] Throughout the levels are health packs which will restore the swarmites' numbers to 50. The levels also contain checkpoints which serve as the point where players will resume play if they lose all 50 swarmites.[4]
Points are earned by collecting strands of DNA found throughout the level. Some strands can only be collected by having several swarmites and using them collectively to retrieve the strand. The swarmites can huddle together for strength and speed boosts, stack on top of one another to reach high obstacles, and jump as a group to reach certain areas.[4] All of the swarmites are controlled both individually as well as in a collective; each swarmite has their own unique AI that interacts with other swarmites and the commands given by the player. Swarmites will dynamically walk around objects and obstacles, each choosing their own path based on player commands.[5]
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