I came up with the idea for this game while playing classic Gyruss. I wanted to do another fast action shooter and I wanted to ensure that it stayed true to the arcade genre. Playing Gyruss, Galaga, and my own Replicator gave me the idea for Swarm. Its based on my theory that addictive gameplay comes about through the action of "cleaning up" the screen. In this game the player gets two ways to "clean up" the screen. First of all, the player needs to destroy the swarm, which look very cluttered on the screen. There is satisfaction in cleaning them up. The player also gets to return the central matrix back to its original color (the swarm change it).

When I originally planned this game, the player's ship was going to move around the outside of the screen, just like Gyruss. It looked quite good, but I had trouble getting the game difficulty pitched right. It was either too hard or too easy. There seemed no middle ground. I solved the problem by giving the player more movement freedom. The player can move anywhere on the screen. The only thing is that the player is always targetting the center of the screen, so the shots always head towards the matrix. I think its a good effect and provides a level of originality in the game.

This is a fast paced game, and the enemies move in fast scripted waves (very fast in later levels).