Ernie the Snail is a game I’m building inspired by a very old (but still legendary) Reddit thread. Back in 2014, someone posed this question:

You and a super-intelligent snail both get 1 million dollars and become immortal. However, the snail always knows where you are and slowly crawls toward you forever. If it touches you, you die. What’s your plan?

I stumbled across this thread years ago, and for whatever reason, the idea stuck with me. It’s honestly kind of terrifying—something slow and inevitable just following you, patiently waiting for you to slip up

The Game (so far)

Here’s how it works:

• Every level has a countdown timer. Your only goal is to avoid Ernie (the snail).
• Ernie is slow, but he never stops chasing you.
• If he touches you, you’re dead. That’s it.
• If you survive until the timer hits zero, you move on to the next level.

Seems easy enough, right? Well…

The Mechanics

I’ve been trying to keep the mechanics fun, simple, but subtly sinister:

• Movement: You can run and jump, but on some levels, the more you run, the slower you get. You have to manage your stamina carefully.
• Consumables: You can find random power-ups like speed boosts around the level. But here’s the catch—if Ernie gets to the power-up first, he gets faster too.
• Salt: You can collect salt to temporarily slow Ernie down. It doesn’t last long, but it might just save you.

Level Design

Right now, I’m in full-blown mechanic-experimentation mode. Every time I think of a new idea, I spin up a new level. The environments range wildly—floating islands, infinite forests, deserts, frozen wastelands. Pretty much whatever sounds cool and makes running from a snail unnecessarily difficult.

I’m also keeping the door open for puzzles, traps, and environmental hazards down the road, but right now, I’m mostly just trying to dial in the core gameplay and make sure the levels feel fun (and mildly stressful).

Development Thoughts

Developing this game has been a slow, relaxing process, ironically enough. I’ve been teaching myself Unreal Engine blueprints along the way, which are surprisingly logical once you get into them. Early on, I joined an Unreal developer Discord server and learned there’s an unspoken etiquette to building blueprints—naming things consistently, structuring them cleanly—so other developers can jump in and immediately understand what’s happening. It’s like learning a new dialect of visual logic.

The best part of development by far has been designing new mechanics. I’ll come up with a silly idea and just build it, no pressure. The game isn’t super polished, and when it’s done, I’ll probably throw it on Steam for less than 5 bucks. It’s a fun, low-stakes project that I keep coming back to.

Sneak peek?

Sure, I’ve added below some random screenshots from the game for you to enjoy. I’ll make a trailer eventually and will try to remember to update this blog post.

Why Ernie?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer for this. I just needed a placeholder name. I am not sold on the name or committed to it yet. The author of the inspirational reddit thread is Andy316619, so maybe I will rename it Andy the Snail. Please let me know if you have better ideas.

Got Ideas?

If you have ideas for mechanics, power-ups, or level designs, hit me up. Seriously. The weirder the better.