Weekend Download
This edition of Weekend Download is dedicated to cells. No, not the kind you find in prison, the kind you find right here, inside your body. The squishy little things surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane. How about a hand for cells? All 100 trillion of them!
The Mushroom Engine (download) (Windows, 4.1MB, free) - The Mushroom Engine is a platform game based on Hempuli's original Jump On Mushrooms: The Game, reworked in collaboration with Nifflas. In this game you don't play, you un-play. It begins with the end credits and you undo everything you would have done, from un-collecting coins to un-stomping enemies and so on. You can't break the game rules, meaning you can't do something that would have been impossible if you were playing the game from start to end (falling too far, getting coins twice, etc.). Because you have to mind things like the number of coins you un-collect or bumping into a reanimated enemy, the game plays more like an action-based puzzler. Which is... unique!
Madhouse (Windows, 4.8MB, free) - Described as a "top-down shooter adventure-RPG with a comical horror theme", Madhouse plays like a cutesy version of an old school zombie splatterfest (Zombies Ate My Neighbors, anyone?), only it's much more than that. Play as a zombie, amnesiac mercenary, deranged sociopath dressed as a clown, a little guy wearing rags, or any of twelve other unlockable characters, each with its own special abilities, weapons and stats. There's even multiplayer support! And don't let the cute pixel graphics fool you, as this one packs quite a lot of blood and carnage into a tiny package.
Gate 88 (Mac/Win/Linux, 13MB, free) - A 2D multiplayer action/real-time strategy (RTS) game! You are in control of a small ship that must defend structures placed in the middle of space. As you fly around blasting foes, plop buildings such as turrets and research stations to help expand your little colony. Features multiplayer over internet and LAN.
Pandaland (Windows, 18.8MB, free) - As simple as platformers can be, Pandaland is all about an indie pop girl saving her home from evil brats. Throw cherries to defeat your enemies and grab food floating in the sky to keep your health up. The game is a bit on the short side, but the amount of quirky, colorful settings are worth running through at least once.
It seems the download for the mushroom engine is broken. Maybe its just me.
[Edit: Just tried it, works fine - maybe you have a firewall or some, that does not allow a download? Greetings, Kayleigh]
I have the same problem, can't download Mushroom Engine. I get this message: "404 Not Found
The requested URL /mush/www.hempuli.com/MEngine.zip does not exist."
I've looked at my firewall, it's not that... could it possibly be a broken link?
Also meant to add that I'm able to download Jump On Mushrooms just fine! So I think there is something wrong with the link?
I managed to find a direct link, try this one out: http://www.hempuli.com/MEngine.zip
Toaren - awesome! Thanks so much, it works a charm :)
gate88 hasn't been updated since two thousand five. It also quits every thirty seconds on my computer.
After playing The Mushroom Engine I'm imagining a first-person shooter where you aim at dead enemies and pull bullets back into your gun.
Make sure to read the entire credits when you beat Pandaland. Hard mode is really hard :P
Mushroom game is irritating; you have to watch it slowly rewind your progress every time you make a mistake and start from the beginning.
JIGuest, that sounds like the old version of mushroom engine. The new version doesn't playback every time you die and has many bug fixes and new features.
In the mushroom game you can press esc to skip the rewinding.
Some of the "Imposible Situations" in ME are possible. They probably made it so the game would check if it was possible using the SAME thrust!
Madhouse is cute and fun for a little while, but the unrefined gameplay and setup ruin it. I'm stuck on this level where:
Invisible enemies pop up to drain HP and mana, bugs intermittently dive bomb you from off-screen, and the boss one-shots you in a tiny room.
I'd give it 1.5/5.
Gate 88 was never mentioned before?
Oh man, you guys missed out!!! Play it, now!
ok.
I try and access the mushroom game through the link, pops up error.
I use Jig's download link and it works fine.
I download it, unpack it... play it.
It pops up, and says play '1' level. I click start.
Nothing happens.
I have unpacked the game but I can't get it to load. Anyone else having that problem?
Mushroom Engine is _almost_ fun. If you didn't have to replay the entire level...
Sorry, after playing Braid, I can't step down to this.
Hey, my computer told me there is a virus in two of the files of the MEngine zip. You might want to check this out and change/remove the link.
Update