REVIEW: Mushroom 11

mushroom

Steam: Released

Developer: Untame

Publisher: Untame

Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie

Release date: 15th October 2015

Type: Single-player

Mushroom 11 is a charming indie puzzle platformer game with interesting erase-and-move progressing system.

If this review is too long for you, I suggest you to only read the first paragraph about the game’s content and the final verdict at the end.

What is happening in the game:

“Delete it and it will grow.” That’s what the Store page says and it’s pretty much the most accurate description of this game. You are an unusual green organic creature (“the blob”) that consists of certain number of cells or blocks. Every time you erase a part of the blob, exactly the same amount of the blob grows from the blob in its other side. This way, you are able to move. You are placed in a world of fun and hard puzzles and boss fights.

Pros:
  • The Idea | I wouldn’t come up with that in a hundred years and I have to say that the idea is brilliant. We all know that the market is already flooded with tons and tons of different platformers, so a change is certainly welcome.
  • Puzzle Complexity | The puzzles were a lot more complex than I was expecting them to be. By that I don’t mean they were necessarily hard, but the way they were thought out is just brilliant. But they’re sometimes also just plain hard.
  • The Graphics | You probably noticed that if you checked out this game’s Store Page, but I’m gonna mention it anyway: this game is beautiful. It’s not in stunning Ultra-HD, but it’s still really pleasant to look at. I especially like the green shiny look of the blob.
  • The Soundtrack | This game also has a really good soundtrack! They figured that out and made an OST DLC available for purchase. However, it costs 10$, which is really not worth it.
  • Gameplay Time | I confess: I haven’t finished the game yet. It’s so damn hard! But I played it for quite a few hours already and it’s still fun. Therefore, I’m sure that you can get at least 10 hours of fun out of it. I also feel like there is some replay value as my save files got deleted and I still enjoyed replaying the first levels.
  • OS- and Steam-related stuff | Erasing mushrooms is now easier than ever even on SteamOS and MacOS. Achievements and Trading Cards are of course included. However, there is a catch regarding save files. See cons.

Cons:
  • Game Saving Problems | So, this game’s saves are apparently locked to your Steam Community name. Not to your account, not to your computer, but to your name. If you change your name, your saves are gone. In my opinion, this is a really strange way of saving a game’s progress and they should switch to using Steam Cloud as soon as possible.
  • Difficulty | This game is charming enough to keep me interested even after failing a number of times, but I’m pretty sure that some people won’t last that long. As I mentioned already, this game is pretty damn hard. It starts of pretty easy, but then gets harder and harder. And harder. And it shouldn’t, at least not as much as it does.

The Final Verdict:

This is a good-looking platformer that actually brings something new to the table. Erasing mushrooms and growing them back are never yet seen in the platformer world or in any, to be honest. That’s why it’s worth its price. If you look at the trailer and all the screenshots, you should be able to figure out pretty quickly if this is a game for you or not. I can’t decide if this game is balanced in terms of difficulty or not. I had a great time playing, but games just shouldn’t be as hard as this one is. Almost everyone I know that played this game didn’t finish it, but they all really liked it. I would suggest lowering the difficulty somehow as this would bring the player through the whole game and make him feel a lot better. Other than that, I have no major complaints except that save file issue, which is really weird.

You might or might not know what this game was highly anticipated before it came out and the players weren’t let down when the game was released. The initial players with such hype are usually disappointed because games are never that awesome as they appear before the release, but Mushroom 11’s fans were quite satisfied with the result. This means that you will probably be as well. Anyway, if you like puzzle games, put this on your wishlist or just buy it. It has lots of playtime and it’s not that expensive. And it looks nice.

RATING: 76/100

Written by
Lost Child
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