A Pretty Fungi – Mushroom 11 Review

<p>&&num;8220&semi;The urge to destroy is also a creative urge&period;&&num;8221&semi; &&num;8211&semi; Pablo Picasso<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>From <em>Super Mario Bros&period;<&sol;em> to <em>The Last of Us<&sol;em>&comma; fungi have played supporting roles in video games for decades&period; <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em>&comma; from husband and wife led indie studio&comma; Untame&comma; takes fungus out of the mildewy background and puts it in the driver’s seat&period; While we’ve all done more than our fair share of digital &OpenCurlyQuote;shrooms&comma; I guarantee you’ve never been on a trip like this&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;93051" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-93051" style&equals;"width&colon; 1728px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125318&sol;mushroom11ScreenShot3&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-93051 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125318&sol;mushroom11ScreenShot3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"mushroom11ScreenShot3" width&equals;"1728" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-93051" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;Mushroom 11&comma; Untame Games&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Initially conceived during a 2012 <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;globalgamejam&period;org&sol;">Global Game Jam<&sol;a>&comma; <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> is an exceptionally unique&comma; 2D&comma; puzzle-solving platformer that puts you in the role of an unmoving&comma; amorphous fungal blob&period; Rather than pushing or pulling the blob&comma; you use the mouse cursor to destroy some of its individual pieces&period; As the creature is always composed of exactly 132 cells&comma; when some are erased&comma; &lpar;as long as at least one cell is touching a surface&rpar; they immediately regenerate elsewhere on the organism&comma; thus simulating movement&period; For a game mechanic so remarkably simple and easy to grasp&comma; what can be accomplish with its versatility is mind-blowing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;93046" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-93046" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125405&sol;mushroom11ss2&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-93046 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125405&sol;mushroom11ss2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"mushroom11ss2" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-93046" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;Mushroom 11&comma; Untame Games&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>When &lpar;or more more appropriately&comma; if&rpar; you manage to finish <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em>&comma; you’ll find that your blob’s abilities do not change in any way over the course of the game’s 7 stages&period; Each stage&comma; depending on your skill&comma; can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half to complete&period; Instead of leveling up and gaining new abilities&comma; you discover new ways to manipulate the blob while encountering different environmental obstacles&period; Even if <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em>’s formless fungus had appendages&comma; it wouldn’t hold your hand&period; The learning curve of <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> is well-paced&comma; yet unforgiving&period; If you don’t pay attention to the lesson each puzzle is trying to teach&comma; you won’t be able figure out how to overcome the next seemingly impossible obstacle&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;93047" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-93047" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125348&sol;mushroom11ss6&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-93047 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125348&sol;mushroom11ss6&period;jpg" alt&equals;"mushroom11ss6" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-93047" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;Mushroom 11&comma; Untame Games&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Much like <em><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;2dboy&period;com&sol;games&period;php">World of Goo<&sol;a><&sol;em>&comma; <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> is really all about management&comma; both in structure and balance&period; While dangling precariously over a pit of acid to reach the next ledge&comma; pay close attention to what cells you delete&period; Shaving off the cells holding you in place will cause you to plummet to your death&period; Inversely&comma; letting too many cells grow on one side of your blob will completely change its center of balance&comma; tumbling you in the wrong direction&period; As long as you remain careful&comma; the random cell regeneration is not a problem until you face a few certain puzzles that require speed&period; Trying to quickly mold yourself into a particular shape can be immensely frustrating when the cells just don’t want to cooperate&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;93048" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-93048" style&equals;"width&colon; 1728px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125332&sol;mushroom11ScreenShot21&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-93048 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;10&sol;04125332&sol;mushroom11ScreenShot21&period;jpg" alt&equals;"mushroom11ScreenShot21" width&equals;"1728" height&equals;"1080" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-93048" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;Mushroom 11&comma; Untame Games&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>A nice feature of <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> is that it really has no overt narrative&period; No cutscenes&comma; audio diaries&comma; or walls of text interrupt the gameplay&comma; appropriately leaving its focus on puzzle-solving&period; Although the background environment can be ignored entirely&comma; I wouldn’t recommend it&period; The beautifully tragic&comma; hand-painted environments are the biological equivalent to the charming devastation found in <em><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;machinarium&period;net&sol;">Machinarium<&sol;a><&sol;em>&period; Furthermore&comma; these gorgeous works of art provide clues to what happened to humanity and the origin of the mysterious blob&period; Less of a soundtrack and more of an ambient audioscape&comma; the music provided by <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;The&lowbar;Future&lowbar;Sound&lowbar;of&lowbar;London">The Future Sound of London<&sol;a> is mesmeric and apropos of the post-apocalyptic wasteland&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<iframe src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;embed&sol;KVe76XebJcw" width&equals;"560" height&equals;"315" frameborder&equals;"0" allowfullscreen&equals;"allowfullscreen"><&sol;iframe><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> will not only force you to think outside the box&comma; but it’ll make you climb the box&comma; destroy the box&comma; and form your own box&period; Much like <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Portal&lowbar;&lpar;video&lowbar;game&rpar;">Portal<&sol;a><&sol;em>&comma; it provides players with a refreshingly unique yet elegantly simple tool in order to solve some staggeringly clever puzzles&period; Rather than reward players with hollow &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;XP” or new abilities&comma; <em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> provides an uncomplicated set of rules upfront and nourishes your skill and creativity as a player&comma; a true indicator of superb game design&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Mushroom 11<&sol;em> will be available for PC&comma; Mac and Linux on <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;store&period;steampowered&period;com&sol;app&sol;243160&sol;">Steam<&sol;a> and <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;gog&period;com&sol;">GOG<&sol;a> on October 15th&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;show&period;restaurant&period;org&sol;BrainFeed&sol;Read&sol;MushroomDay">National Mushroom Day<&sol;a> &lpar;yeah&comma; that’s a thing&rpar;&comma; for &dollar;14&period;99&period; It’s also coming to iOS in 2016&comma; where it should feel right at home with touch controls&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em><strong>A PC review code for Mushroom 11 was provided by Untame Games for the purpose of this review<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;