Worming from Home Speedrun Guide: Leaderboard Times, Categories & Routes

Most players finish Worming from Home and never look at the clock again. Then they watch a Worming from Home speedrun wrap up in under a minute and realize the floppy ragdoll they spent hours fighting is actually a movement system with a real skill ceiling. That gap — clumsy office worm versus precision projectile — is what makes this little comedy job sim such a surprisingly good speed game.

The scene is still tiny enough that a new runner can land on the board this week, and the categories are different enough that there's a route for almost every taste. Below is what the leaderboard looks like right now, what each category actually asks of you, and where the seconds really hide.

Why Worming from Home Speedruns Are So Short

Worming from Home is a comedic job simulator from developers Zach Northrop and Mason Sabharwal, released on Steam for PC on September 4, 2026. You play a pink earthworm holding down a remote finance job as a Junior Financial Analyst: flinging your boneless body at a giant keyboard, head-bashing number keys, surviving printer emergencies, trading stocks, and climbing the corporate ladder.

Almost none of that is what gets run at high speed. The interesting target is the Wormhole — the hidden platforming gauntlet that opens near the end of your career. It swaps the office sim for insta-kill floors, checkpoint sections, and a notoriously brutal optional difficulty. Because it's a self-contained challenge rather than a full career, a Wormhole run can be measured in seconds instead of hours.

That creates a clean split in the community:

One important note: the leaderboard separates Full Release runs from Demo runs, and each board tracks the game version used. A demo time is not directly comparable to a 1.0 time, so always check the version column before comparing two runs.

The Current Leaderboard at a Glance

Here's a snapshot of the Worming from Home leaderboard as of this writing. These numbers come straight from the community-run boards, so treat them as a moving target — records in a scene this small fall fast.

The overall picture: 23 submitted runs across 7 players, with 8 followers on the game page. That is a very young board. In a scene this size, a clean, unoptimized Wormhole clear often places immediately — you do not need a world-record route to see your name on the table.

A few things stand out from the data:

• The demo Wormhole record sits under a minute, while the full-release record is slightly slower. Different versions, different physics tuning, different route — do not read that as a skill gap.
• Difficulty is tracked as a column on the Wormhole board, so a Hard-difficulty clear is a distinct achievement from a standard clear.
• A moderator verifies submissions. RockhoundLion's 1:45.949 demo run was verified by a board moderator, which is the norm.
• The ruleset is still in flux. A thread titled "Full Release Any% Category Update Suggestion" was posted about a month ago and currently has no replies, which tells you the community is still deciding what the full-release Any% category should look like.

If you want to see the live numbers and read the category rules yourself, the Worming from Home leaderboard on Speedrun.com is the authoritative source — always read the rules tab before you start practicing.

How a Wormhole Run Actually Works

The Wormhole is not unlocked from the start. Community reports consistently place its opening near the end of your career, which means most runners keep a completed save file on hand and load straight into the gauntlet rather than replaying the office sim every attempt.

From there, a run is a sequence of flings, bounces, and checkpoint touches. Deaths are not instant resets in the traditional sense — RockhoundLion's verified demo submission notes that "second run starts just after the first death," which is a good illustration of how runners think about attempts: a death costs you time, not the entire run, as long as the timer rules allow it.

Movement Tech: Where the Seconds Actually Hide

Mastering the ragdoll is the whole game, and it's also the whole speedrun. The control scheme matters more here than in most precision platformers, because your worm has no limbs — every input is a full-body commitment.

• Shorten your charges. New runners hold the fling input too long. Distance is rarely the problem; landing angle usually is.
• Chain your momentum. A bounce that carries speed into the next fling is worth more than a perfect single jump.
• Stay off the floor. Contact with a surface bleeds speed. The best routes minimize how often the worm touches down.
• Pick your input device deliberately. The community has a long-running debate about the touch keyboard option versus standard keyboard bashing, and controller bindings are a viable third path. The game is Steam Deck Verified, so handheld practice is realistic.
• Separate practice from attempts. Learn the route, then learn the consistency, then start the timer. Mixing the two just produces frustration.

Any% vs Wormhole: Which Category Should You Run?

This is the first real decision a new runner makes, and the answer depends on how much time you can commit per attempt.

For most people, the Wormhole is the right on-ramp. It's short, repeatable, and forgiving of a bad first attempt. Career categories reward a different mindset entirely — you're optimizing a schedule, not a jump.

If you do go the Any% route, note that efficient play leans heavily on the game's two progression systems: Muscle Mass from the gym and Financial Insight from the Reading Nook. Community guides consistently recommend early Financial Insight, since money compounds into everything else, while intern upgrades are permanent and keep producing paperwork output for the rest of the save. That's the kind of compounding advantage that turns a slow career run into a fast one.

Getting on the Board: A Beginner's Checklist

A practical sequence for your first submitted Worming from Home speedrun:

With a board this small, the bar to entry is low and the ceiling is wide open. A sub-two-minute Wormhole clear is already competitive on the demo side of the table, and the full-release board only has a couple of names on it.

FAQ

What is the fastest Worming from Home speedrun time? On the demo board, the fastest recorded Wormhole run sits at 0:59, with a 1:06 close behind. On the full-release board, the leading time is 1:13.176. Remember that these are different versions and are not directly comparable.

Do I need to finish the game before I can run the Wormhole? Yes, in practice. The Wormhole opens near the end of your career, so most runners keep a completed save and load straight into the gauntlet rather than replaying the office sim before every attempt.

Are demo and full-release Worming from Home speedrun times comparable? No. The leaderboard splits Full Release and Demo into separate boards, and each run lists the version used. Physics tuning and route differences mean a demo record and a 1.0 record are two different achievements.

How do I submit a run? Record your attempt, confirm you followed the category rules for your version and difficulty, then submit it through the game's leaderboard page. A moderator verifies each run — the current moderator team handles all submissions for the board.

The scene is small, the routes are still being figured out, and the top times are within reach of a determined beginner. Pick the Wormhole, learn the safe line, and start the clock.