You are mycellium, the fibrous fungus network in the ground.
At this point in time, your mission is to simply stay alive, and try for a high score. That, and quests.
Sky, (~), is where the rain and meteors come from.
The player cannot leave the dirt.
Raindrops are shown in the sky, represented as (|) Raindrops vary in size, which is transferred into the dirt when they land.
Meteors are represented in the sky as ¤ character. They leave a trail as they fall, making it easy to spot where they will land.
Dirt, (.) makes up the bottom half of the playfield.
Dirt can get wet, shown in the (h2o view) as a number 1-9 indicating how wet it is.
Dirt can also grow plants. (plant view). Plants appear on the top layer of soil and are numbers representing the plant health. Go too long without water, and a plant will die.
Dirt can be toxix to varying degrees, indicated as a (T) in the plant view.
Indicated by a ▙ character (in all views) Rocks are immovable, and impassable.
Dirt squares become toxic when a meteor crashes into them. Passing through toxic dirt, harms the player character (decreases health), but also clear out the toxicity.
Toxic waste is shown in the plant view as a 'T'.
Shown as | in the sky. Passes moisture to the dirt it lands on.
Plants grow randomly on the top layer of dirt (closest to the sky).
Plants are shown in the plant view as a number from 1-9 representing the plants health. Without water, a plant gradually dies, eventually breaking down into minerals in the dirt.
Every time a plant is restored to full health (by hitting water), it grows more wise.
At a certain point, a long living plant will become enlightened. These plants will be shown as glowing (on the plant view).
At the surface layer of the earth, marked with 'M' characters. Sprout a mushroom by heading to the surface and using the 'f' key.
Minerals, shown in the mineral view as a number from 1-9 representing the concentration of it, are key to staying alive for long times.
The player absorbs any minerals it touches, turning them points, and a health bonus.
Crystals appear randomly in the depths of the soil.
Collect as many of them as you can, as they are great for your score (and health!).
Shown on the map as a glowing @, the portal only appears once all tasks for a level are complete. See the status of these tasks on your journal screen 'j'.
Worms are bad! Worms are evil! If they touch you, you die! They are shown on the map as a trail of 'w' characters.
Worms will make a bee-line directly for the player and try to catch you.
A 'O' indicates an opening of a wormhole. Where will it lead? Go in it and find out!
Deer wander around and eat plants. They are shown on all views as 'D' characters.
Shown in all views as 'N' characters, nibbits are stateful organisms, either on, or off. Toggle them by getting close!
Rain falls down from the sky. When it hits the ground, the dirt gets wet, indicated on the h2o view with a number (moistness) of that dirt.
Rain that encounters minerals, take one mineral and washes it down to the next square.
Rain will trickle into the earth until it reaches 0.
Watch out for the occassional flood! Floods appear on the top row, killing plants, deer, and dumping a pile of moisture into the ground!
Every so often a meteor might fly by and crash! Meteors crash into the ground, leaving traces of toxic waste in the soil in it's crash path.
Touching toxic waste will hurt your health a lot!
Your health decrements an amount equal to your size, every single time you move. The longer you are, the quicker your health depletes!
Game over when health reaches 0.
The main way of keeping your health up, is collecting minerals (shown in the mineral view as a number representing mineral concentration).
As well, each crystal collected gives a large health bonus.
Use your Break power to smash rocks. Sometimes you might find a fossil, represented in the h2o view as a % symbol. Grab it and your health will no longer decrement when you move (for a limited time). You can tell you are invulnerable because your health will be shown with a background gray color.
Mycellium has specific dampness it likes to live at. Your character is no different! Keep your moistness at 0 for a perfect healthy balance. Get too dry (every move through dirt that isn't wet), or get too wet (by collecting rain), and it's game over for you!
As meteors keep falling to earth, they leave streaks of toxic waste in their wake. The more dirt polluted with toxic waste, the more toxic overall the soil becomes.
Check your active quests on the journal screen, (j). They will be checked off when they are complete.
Complete quests to receive XP and special powerups.
When all objectives for a level are complete, look for the exit portal, marked with a '@' to proceed.
- wasd - moves your character a space
- WASD - grows your character in the given direction
- x - shrink your character by one
- t - toggle between showing three screens, or just one
- 123 - when in single view, toggle which view is shown when in triple view, toggle which view is selected
- 5 - save the game
- 9 - show the score screen
- q - quit the game
- zc - scroll the viewport left or right
- h - when in single view, toggles visibility of your character when in triple view, toggles visibility of your character on the selected screen
- j - show journal screen
- r - reverses your head and tail
- ? - show help screen
- p - show the powers screen
- o - use selected power
- n - new game
- h2o
This view shows the wetness of the earth. A number on a square represents the dampness of that dirt.
Worms are shown in this view as a trail of 'w' characters. Careful! Don't let the worms touch you!
- minerals
Numbers here represent a mineral deposit concentration. The higher the number, the more of a health benefit you get!
- plants and toxic waste
Plants grow randomly on the surface (first layer of dirt), and are shown in this view as a number 1-9 representing the plants health.
Go too many turns without rain, and the plant dies (X), turning into a mineral deposit.
Toxic waste in this view is shown as a letter T.
You can save your current game by pressing the '5' key. A savegame file will be created on disk.
On startup, if a savegame file is detected, it will be loaded.
Your character gains special powers from enlightened flowers. Use the 'p' key to show the powers screen, selecting the active power using space, or enter.
Teleport will transport the character to a new random spot in the dirt. Good for getting yourself out of a sticky situation.
Pushes dirt contents one square farther away from the player. This actually shifts moisture, rocks, minerals, and toxicity.
The reverse of expand. Draws dirt and rocks one closer to you.
Converts all nearby rocks into a high concentration mineral deposit.