Along with dispatching common arthropods such as pill bugs, crickets, beetles, and wolf spiders, most of which can be devoured to regain health, the player also faces bosses including a Gila Monster, a rattlesnake and eventually a human.

[1] Two men, George Struggs and Wade (voiced by Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton[4]), are looking for a location in the Sonoran Desert where they believe gold from the American Civil War has been buried.

Wade's narration at the beginning of the game implies that Struggs survived, having slipped into a coma due to the explosion and being bitten by a Gila Monster during his battle with the scorpion.

The game's concept was inspired when lead designer Jordan Itkowitz had a dream about using the Wii Remote to control a snake, slithering through the grass and striking a mouse.

[3] For promotion, Rainbow Studios released a fake "behind-the-scenes" video dated from January 2008 revealing a motion capturing session involving a scorpion.