Mushroom 11
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Mushroom 11
Mushroom 11 is a strange and unique game that reshapes the way you think about its puzzles.
Both genuinely original and a smart physics puzzler, but aggravating in places, Mushroom 11 falls a few inches short of a classic.
Untame's experimental puzzle game pioneers a new style of interaction, layered onto a familiar premise, and finds gold among the ruins.
The developers at Untame should be proud and confident that they can build thorough and robust gameplay structures around their ideas. But the concept at the centre of Mushroom 11, I would implore, is not something they should return to.
Whether it's figuring out how to land on a platform so that, when it starts swinging, you don't get dumped into the acid below, or guiding a rocket up an angled shaft so it carries you to the plants above, or sacrificing a chunk of mass so that it can get fried carrying electricity from generator to door, Mushroom 11 demands each area be looked at with the lessons learned from previous sections. The wasteland of the corpse of civilization is not a forgiving place, but with a little care and a huge amount of perseverance, the fungus' journey may let it see what lies at the conclusion of the unforgettable journey of Mushroom 11.
There's not much else to Mushroom 11 beyond the core movement mechanic, but the game is confident in its limited scope. It allows the simple and innovate control scheme to take center stage, and though it requires both patience and practice, it contributes greatly to the novelty of the puzzle platformer experience. If players fall into a few lava pits along the way, so be it. At least an overwhelming sense of accomplishment awaits the green organism at the end of each chapter.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear some may abandon it before finishing due to its difficulty, but I also wouldn't be amazed to see diehards pop up, going for the no-death and the 100 percent runs. For me, I'm totally happy with my single playthrough.
Mushroom 11 is overflowing with an effectively grim atmosphere and some brilliantly original ideas. Although I do have some gripes with the tricky controls, the game ultimately offers a challenging physics-based experience that is enough to satisfy any fan of puzzle platformers.
