Mushroom 11 Game Analysis

Mushroom 11 Analysis

David Hunter

August 3, 2017

1 Overview

Mushroom 11 is an independently developed 2D side-scrolling puzzle anti-platform game created by Untame that was released in October, 2015.

2 Formal Elements

2.1 Players

Mushroom 11 is a strictly single-player experience. The player takes indirect control of a fungus or mold. Although fixed in mass, the player can kill parts of it using their mouse or finger. The fungus will then regenerate away from the cursor. The more the player erases, the smaller it will temporarily become, and the quicker it will try to regenerate the lost mass. The mold may be subdivided into smaller separate parts by killing the cells connecting them, and each part may be controlled and moved by killing cells and allowing them to regenerate.

2.2 Objectives

Using the simple control scheme above, the player must navigate the environment to reach the end of each stage and defeat the boss, of which there are seven.

There are 50 creatures or plants scattered throughout each stage, and the player may attempt to collect these as an extra challenge.

2.3 Rules

The rules of Mushroom 11 are quite simple, but like Go, their simplicity belies a wide variety of application. As long as one cell of the fungus remains, the entire mass may be regenerated from it, but if all cells perish, the player will regenerate from the nearest save point automatically. If no cell connects the fungus body to something solid (meaning it is unattached and falling or flying through the air), then the fungus cannot be regenerated until it touches something solid again. Each cell has mass, volume, and density, and thus can be affected forces such as buoyancy, torque, gravity, etc.

There are various substances which affect the fungus in different ways. Water is harmless, but causes the fungus to float. There is also fire, which will burn any fungus which touches it, and acid which will travel through the whole fungus body killing cells unless the affected part is cut off from the rest. Lastly, there is electricity, which will travel through all connected cells and kill them instantly.

Since forces can affect the fungus, the fungus can be used to make objects move. For example, by positioning the fungus on a ball, the player may cause the ball to roll by altering the distribution of mass of the fungus to generate torque. Similarly, the player may wrap the fungus around an object and use distribution of mass to turn it. The fungus may be shaped into hooks for lifting objects out of water, bridges for crossing gaps or for allowing other objects to roll across the gap, pieces of fungus may be sacrificed by using them as conductors for passing electricity from a battery to an electric door.

2.4 Procedures

There are several procedures that the player will engage in during play.

1. Figure out what to do: allow the game usually does a great job, especially in the early stages, of tutoring the player in what to do and how to do it, the later stages are many levels of difficult above the earlier ones. More patience will be required to figure out exactly what the player is intended to achieve.
2. Solve logic problem: Many problems involve figuring out how to bypass a logical conundrum.
3. Solve skill problem: Certain puzzles are more reliant on fast reflexes and precise control than others, and as the game progresses, the length of these skill problems can become quite extended.
4. Navigate the stage: The only way to move around the stage is to use the delete tool to kill fungus cells opposite the way which you wish to travel in.

2.5 Resources

2.5.1 Abstract

There do not appear to be any abstract resources in Mushroom 11.

2.5.2 Physical

• Mass: The fungus’s mass can be altered and redistributed at will, and controlling it is paramount to maneuvering through the levels and puzzles.
• Momentum: By controlling the mass distribution and shape, the player can build momentum or eat it.
• Shape: The shape of the fungus is crucial for unlocking certain gates, and for rolling.
• Velocity: Like momentum, this can be controlled by mass distribution and shape.
• Collectibles: These do not affect gameplay in anyway, but they can be collected.

2.6 Conflicts

There are typically several different ways to solve a particular problem. The player might rely on fast reflexes and well-controlled trimming of fungus cells, or the player might go for a slower more methodical approach. Even between these two, there might be several different ways to solve a problem.

2.7 Boundaries

2.7.1 Map

The map is a 2D side-scrolling style map, so no movement in the third dimension is possible. Further, only selected elements of the environment may be interacted with.

2.7.2 Controls

The controls are extremely limited: only the mouse is used to play the game, with the left mouse button mapped to a large cell killing circle and the right button mapped to a smaller cell killing circle.

2.8 Outcomes

There are really two outcomes possible: the player successfully completes the game, or they rage quit in the middle.

3 Dynamic Elements

The game environment features some changing or moving elements, however, only some of these are dynamically affected by the player’s actions.

4 Dramatic Elements

There do appear to be some dramatic elements, but they are not presented in a traditional way, with cutscenes, dialogue, or characters.

4.1 Characters

The characters could be the fungus and the seven bosses.

4.2 Story

The story, such as it is, involves the fungus attempting to reach the final stage, where it can finally release its spores.

5 Conclusion

Unlike traditional platformers, Mushroom 11 has no jump, and in fact the player character is an almost completely passive blog, which can only be moved by destroying part of its cells. This change in mechanics opens up a whole world of puzzle and traversal possibilities, and Mushroom 11 deserves all the praise it gets for its creative use of mass, momentum, and shape to solve puzzles and move around.

5.1 Potent Elements

The use of regeneration and mass as key mechanics create wonderfully interesting and challenging scenarios. Unlike other games where the player must defend themselves at all costs, Mushroom 11 seems to delight in forcing the player to sacrifice and destroy parts of themselves in order to continue.

5.2 Areas for Improvement

The escalation of difficulty in the later stages is quite horrendous.