Cooperate, or backstab? Build, or destroy? All for one and one for all, or every mouse for himself? That's the tension driving Transformice, a multiplayer puzzle platformer where you are the mouse and the goal is the cheese.
Once you choose a guest name or register (just a name and password, no email), the game immediately throws you into a room. It can be very disorienting, since even if you click on the "help" button; it doesn't fully explain all the controls, strategies, and secrets of the game. There are over sixty maps, and on each map there is at least one hole and at least one piece of cheese. Your goal normally is to get cheese and get to a hole, and you do this with the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to move and jump.
One or two mice every round are chosen to be shaman. The shaman can summon objects near himself and use the "spirit" command to make mice jump farther. He does this by clicking on an object in the lower right, then summoning it within his range. But he must also consider whether he wants to rotate the object (mouse wheel, [Z] and [X], or [ctrl] and [shift]), whether he should anchor it ([C] is a free anchor to another object, [V] is a fixed anchor to another object, [B] is a fixed anchor to nothing, and [N] is a rotating anchor) and whether it should be invisible ([spacebar]). Then there's the sheer variety of things you can place on levels, from trampolines to cannonballs to anvils.
As even the instructions show, being a shaman is complicated, and your first try as shaman will probably consist of the other mice screaming at you via the chatbox at the bottom of the screen UR DOIN IT RONG, only probably less polite. So you'll probably want to change room to a room with no one in it and practice your skills. Type /room and then a number or word to change to that room, and if no one is in that room, you'll be the shaman every time.
Analysis: Transformice seems to be a game that is well aware of the various motivations for people to play. Some multiplayer games get utterly broken by trolling and vicious players because the gamemakers obviously didn't anticipate that playstyle. Transformice not only anticipates it, some levels seem to encourage it: in the quickly developing lingo of the game, duelling maps are where two shamans have two color coded holes, one for each shaman. Generally the first thing that happens on these maps is the shamans try to destroy each other or block each others holes. In fact, the game seems to take a lot of gamebreakers for granted. For example, some of the maps seem to be expecting you as the player to try for clipping errors.
On most of the levels, the best result for you, personally, is to be cooperative, and in many levels trying to sabotage others frequently results in your own death. While messing around occasionally is usually taken in good humor, true trolling as a shaman is very badly received in most rooms. You may be banned by the other players (/ban playername), other shamans may single you out for killing when the turn switches, or you may simply find that your audience simply scampers off to other rooms.
For me, I had the most fun playing when someone suggested in group chat going to a room composed just of people who want to earn cheese. A bunch of us did, and for a good hour we racked up cheese very quickly because we were all cooperating. Here's the funny thing, and it will help you understand why a game of adorable cartoon mice is rating-r: I can't tell you the name of the room we used because Jay would wash my mouth out with soap. Swearing and vulgarity are near constant in the chat boxes of Transformice. So are memes: when some epic fail necessitates becoming an hero, the most frequent shout is "SPARTAAAA!" (If you understood all the references in that sentence, you'll fit right in.) If someone is being particularly offensive (slurs are a deal breaker for me), you can click on their name and ignore them.
Never forget about the option to change rooms. Different rooms have different climates, which develop as people choose to stay or leave. In the total opposite of the room where I had the most fun, sometimes a room will develop in which every single person is using their term as shaman to try to kill everyone else, and every single person is having a lot of fun doing this. Ask yourself what kind of play style you like, and then try different rooms until you find one with people who like it too.
Take advantage of the ability to create rooms! (Be aware that no one owns a room, and anyone can enter.) Try out /room jig to hang out with out JayIsGamers. How about /room jignoobs for a more forgiving place where you're all learning, /room jigevil for a place where everyone tries to kill everyone, and /room jignice for people who want to be sweet and helpful? Do you have more ideas for themes for rooms? Suggest rooms and tell us your Transformice nickname in the comments! Really great Flash multiplayer games are not easy to come by, and the addictive and chaotic gameplay of Transformice ranks with the best. Plus, cheese. Oh yes.
Thanks to SirNiko, B, Teasel, and Pil for sending this one in!
cant connect to server :(
I'm torn between correcting "a hero" and pretending that I have NO IDEA what joye is talking about.
nvm power of posting
Me too, JonMW. Funny, I just learned about and tried out this game yesterday. Too buggy for me to enjoy for very long, though watching a youtube someone made about this game gave me quite a few laughs.
About as a buggy a game as I've ever seem. Shame really - looks potentially... erm... potentialish.
are you guys kidding me? its not that buggy for me. and this is by far one of the most fun games i have played in the past year or two. I usually end up truly laughing out loud every round. this is loads and loads of fun!
some tips:
1) you can join a room by typing /room , and you can make your own room to practice as shaman.
2) if you want loads of fun, join room 1, it usually has about 80 mice in there at a time.
I've tried several times to get on and each attempt my server connection was interrupted.
meh. its alright. addicting, but not much fun.
I just want to say that I totally had "an hero" there and my lovely and more innocent editor "corrected" it.
I'll fix it. XD
So what, a few bugs. Playing with the whole JIG community is REALLY, REALLY, FUN.
Everyone, to /jignoob!
Also:
Can I have a title guide?
No level guides though. Its more fun coming up with glitchy ones :D
This. Game. Is. Win
I had trouble figuring things out. I wish there was an option that allowed you to not be the shaman. I did not enjoy the getting yelled at by everyone feel, although I understand that you can try and practice in an empty room. Still, its an interesting idea because it forces you to work with random people on the internet.
We need to keep a /room jayisgames up xD
is there any way to filter swearing?
I'm hanging out in /room jig, if anyone wants to join me.
I'll be there when the game decides to load
I just left room /jig, but it's still going strong. Check it out if you want a cool place to hang out on Transformice. :D
can't open the page
I can't access it either. It's probably been swamped with traffic if i recently became popular. (I know last week it was only in French, so perhaps the English translation is to blame? :P )
hehe, It was fun playing with some of you on /jignoobs. I'll be playing later, Join :)
No don't change it! It's a meme as well! A horrible, horrible meme, but a meme still. It fits.
Pretty representative of the gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJReZRji7tg
It's great to see this game advertised. Hopefully it won't be too advertised on other, more childish sites and no one never mentions the possibility of swearing in the chat room, which is what I and safely 70% of the community playing does when the shaman kills us.
Also, the correct term IS "an hero". If you don't get it, google it. My username there is Gloont and I'll be joining you guys.
Hmmm...
Game won't load.
Server must be full of JiGgers :)
I played this for several hours yesterday, and was laughing pretty much the whole time!
1. Being Shaman is the toughest job. You can make a private /room to practice if you want! People will tell at you when you don't know what you're doing, but they're usually trying to help. You can learn by regular play! Don't get discouraged!
2. You earn titles by being the first person to grab the cheese and get back to the hole, so invariably the majority of players rush the cheese the very moment it's possible. As a shaman, you need to predict this and work with it.
Regarding titles, currently titles are earned in three ways.
If you want a title, just do one of these three things in a larger quantity:
Lifetime Cheese collected.
Number of "First Cheese" collections (get to the hole first)
Number of mice saved while playing Shaman.
The titles go up pretty high, so there are a lot to collect! Google "Transformice Titles" to find the full list. I'm sure it will change over time.
This is a very fun game! I will be playing this often!
-SirNiko
It says the web adress cannot be found.
Wow, it's fun, but it REALLY needs something to stop server disconnections, I'm getting them every 15 minutes or so >.
seems transformice won't load for some reason -.-
EDIT: never mind, it loaded. btw, i find it an awesome game
I can't seem to find the Sign-up! I'm at a screen with a shaman doing magic & a bunch of mice watching. Under that it says Chargement du jeu: 0% I don't get what's going on or what to do! Help plzz?
-sigh- I wish they would have known this game would have been a server nightmarde.
i won't load, so i'm hoping that posting will help
Best loading screen ever.
Maybe the game is good, too. Can't say.
One out of 20 tries connected.. took five minutes to load when it did. Disconnect after ten minutues.
I don't know if this has been fixed yet, but as of last night, the Shamen controls (B, C, V, etc.) did not work in Firefox.
Switching to Safari, things worked fine, however.
Absolutely no luck. Anyone know if they are doing maintainence?
The game's been linked on several major websites, not the least of which includes Kotaku, Something Awful and of course JIG. My guess is that the devs weren't prepared for a huge surge in popularity.
Getting into the game will require luck until they upgrade the servers.
-SirNiko
I've tried this game a few times. The first time I tried, it said it was unable to connect to the server. The next day, I try to play and the game doesn't load at all! Has this happened to anyone else? How do i fix it? Please help! I really want to play this!
I'm trying to load the thing, but it's not loading, so I'm waiting for the power of posting to come help out. BTW this game is hilarious
my dianosis is severe server overload. treatment: kick users every now and then, upgrade servers
Oh my god, you may not believe me, but I was the shaman on that level where the mouse is shouting "ULTIMATE CHEESE FORTRESS." After I filled the room with boxes, I started making anvil monsters out of rotating joints. You can see my friend Shasm in the picture, and my name was either Chros or some other name before I made an official account. Anyway the reason I troll in particular is because lots of times I get screwed over by the other mice or shaman. Does me adding to the trollage solve anything? No. But it's way more fun than doing the right thing, especially when your score gets reset after the shaman round anyway.
-signs- now when i do get it to load, it's 2 bloated to allow me access to chat
and access to changing rooms.
when i'm a shaman, i try to do my best to help everyone, if the noobs don't screw it over first.
I ended up figuring out how to translate to English haha...I'm good now :D
have you tried the anvil god
make a plank with a red union and then add anvils with the "n" union
Its not loading on my computer. Its at 0%
This is the best game in the history of mankind.
The devs deserve a medal. Made of medals. That comes in a box made from medals.
Didn't realize that having the huge english-speaking community would most probably overwhelm the servers..
Yes, I'm having server problems too. Maybe they should just focus on their main servers.
Hi everybody im a long time transformice player and just tellin the buggs are due to a big update
on june 19 th including new maps,a shop,english ans russian versions ( This game is french )
and new maps
the game is fun but laggs a bit will be fixed in a week or so
It's June 23.
Where is my jetpack.
Internet Explorer can't display? anyone else get this?
Gave it a couple days thinking it was the sudden rush of popularity, but I too cannot connect.
Mine isn't connecting either. Shame, I really wanted to play this one.
Oh well, I'll add it to the Favourites and come back later. I WILL create an ultimate cheese fortress, and I WILL annoy some troll shamans before retreating to /jignice to eat cheese and be friendly. :)
Never mind, power of posting. I'm IN, and I love it!
the web page loads but it hangs at loading 0% even on the french (?) version
A small tip for if you're french but playing on the english servers:
Pressing the K key changes the usual WASD for a ZQSD setting, so that you can play on an azerty keyboard, while still being able to chat without making stupid mistakes, like replacing all your "a"s by "q"s.
SomethingAwful, GameSetWatch, Kotaku, Reddit, JIG, /v and /b pretty much nuked this game with an inrush of unexpected popularity.
Luckily, I got to play it before it went down and I enjoyed it, but I wish that I had had time to play more-- I was on lunchbreak and what little I experienced was along the lines of: "Hmm. I'm in a cage. This sucks, we're not even moving" to "Holy crap, that was hilarious!!"
This thread is probably worth reading too. =)
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3316155
Cool, a second English was added. I suppose it'll make it less congested.
The fixed a few things, they put a queue at the start if the servers are full and the game runs more smoothly now :)
Entire site is lost to the abyss of the interweb or what?
I kinda liked how I had absolutely no idea what to do at first, but gradually learned how to play by watching others.
My username is Amethyst. I didn't know you can change rooms; mine was positively PACKED with mice. Next time, I'll surely drop by /jig or /jignoobs. See you guys there! :)
ive got a pattern going: i play kingdom of loathing until i run out of adventures, then i play this. its a good pattern.
"ive got a pattern going: i play kingdom of loathing until i run out of adventures, then i play this. its a good pattern."
i throw in some fourm lurking/posting before i hit transformice, but other wise my pattern is identical to yours
Oh, I love this game. It really is the easiest way to waste away about 2 hours without even noticing. I was disappointed to find that nobody was in /jignice but I was reasonably happy to retreat to the packed room, seeing as there were no very strong haters in there.
Anyone else hate being shaman? The PRESSURE! The first game I played, I was shaman. Not good. Instead of receiving friendly advice, I got, "Worst shaman EVAAARRR" and "KILL THE SHAMAN!!"
Oh well. I got back at them when they were shaman bygoing into their opponent's mouse hole. Take that!
I suggest we'll play on en2, it is much less crowded = easier to connect. It's also the same account you have on en, so it's not a problem :)
Where is everyone q.q empty rooms
Something interesting: On a level with two shamans(Can be just one, but it goes slower and cannot be quite as spectacular) and no preexisting physics objects(Again, there can be, but it will interfere and likely kill one or both shamans before they can make it as powerful as it could have been), make an anvil god with both shamans as fast as possible, but make every piece ghost. The result is a massive whirling swarm of anvils flying everywhere, but because they don't affect mice, the shamans can continue to upgrade it for a minute or so. Then, one of them attaches a *solid* object and everyone dies...
Ironically, it seems to be a valid tactic on some of the bomb levels, as with all of the anvils flying everywhere, bombs can't last very long before being hit. Certainly a more fun solution.
My connection issues disappeared after the first few days, and now I'm adamant on buying everything in the store and achieving the rank of Ninja Mouse or I will not quit the game. This is probably not healthy.
The knew ducking animation has opened up a string of fun glitches, like moonwalking; I hope they never fix walljumping. I do wish, though, there was some kind of unlimited sandbox mode for shamans to build stuff.
I hate being shammy too... :( I usually change rooms right before becoming a shaman. If the room I left was good I will go straight back to it - this resets your temp ranking.
Love this game though, great way to waste a few minutes whenever you're bored. I didn't get my first place until yesterday and I've been playing it for 3-4 days now! I hope they continue to add more levels and cool stuff!
And yes en2 is less crowded, I like to hang in rooms 4, 5, and esp 6
Best game evar! =D 6/5
i like to go to jignoobs and help them learn how to be a proper shaman. i try to avoid the trolling part :)
Ten new hats were added recently, along with a cheese cost for using
/ban. Did I mention new items were added recently?I'll be needing 4025 cheese to buy all the other stuff now. One day. One day...
awesome game!
I keep seeing people talk about playing the game through a client. Where do I get this client?
I don't understand how this game has a 4.9 rating when only half the commenters seem to like it.
As for me, I don't see the game here. You either wait around til the Shaman does stuff, or you get pushed off. Once the shaman does something, you get the cheese and then go back to the hole. All in all, not a lot of gameplay there, and what there is is not exciting in the least.
MY USERNAME IS TheMiniCrazy
This game is teh rool! I love nice rooms ;D <3 ;P
Did anyone notice? For a few days, portals were available so shamans can save trapped mice.
Now they're all deleted because they are over powered. (Shaman creates exit at hole, then once at cheese, or one at cheese and one at reachable point).
Give us our portals back! Even if you "nerf" them it's fine :)
my old one was deleted i was theminicrazy but i am now epicbutcrazy !!! i love the new portal addition
Go to http://transformice.com/en2 for the second english server.
the bugs are what make the game fun! :D
like walljumping and moonwalking. the lag usually kills me but it worth it making anvilsnakes everywhere! and shouting SPARTA when the shaman fails and you can't win. or DERP! the only other problem with the game is the connection issues, im constantly kicked from the server.
I can't stop playing !!
It is wonderful game...
But I long time can't learn how to WALL JUMP!
And I find this video on YouTube! - WALL JUMP HACK!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfAcMmDsYw
if anyone's looking for me on transformice, i'm shadic. btw, troll me and when i'm shaman, PREPARE TO LOSE IT ALL!
Hello, I'm Flame. I've actually gained quite a bit of experience in the week or so I've played. I've met many cooperative people at this site's website, and in my opinion this is a great game overall!
I just learned you shouldn't do something else while playing. people got mad at me for not finishing.:(
How about this?
If you like huge crowds of chaotic mice, all fighting for space on your monitor, come on over to room Crowded!! Invented by Yours Truly. it fulfills the every need of those who are most cerrtainly NOT claustrophobic! :3
I've been playing constantly for the past few days, and discovered that this is one of the most fun and addictive games on the internet right now. Right now I'm hanging out in room 6, but I'm all over.
Cannot find port 80, apparently. I cannot play PERIOD. :(
It is addicting to own people, but I do wish you would make 1 server where everyone works together and a ban if not XD.
My downfall is there is always someone better than me. Exactly 1 person. In an hour of gameplay, I rack up 1 first and about 25 seconds. It drives me INSANE my title should be "Second in Command/First Mouse"
This game is so addicting! Played for hours, now my stomach hurts from all the laughing.
I love this game! It's all I've been playing for the last 2 days!
btw, how do you buy things?
@a ghost:
click on menu, then go to store.
On the second english server, if you go to room 33, there's usually around 10 mice. There probably won't be anymore, but I've been craving a room of nice peoples.
Why I can't connect to the server? I tried both server.. :( HELP ME!!!
Thanks! I'm going to room 33 now.
Whenever I'm on (usually 1-2 hours a day), I'm always on english 2, and I always check rooms 33 and 42. More people please! My name's carnaxcce.
Is there a way to block swear words?
Hey, I'm always in jignoobs. My user is Mikeyone. Hope to see you there!
Transformice is so much fun! I've been playing for about a week now and i'm still addicted, and i just learned how to walljump! :P
Only down side is that i find that the servers are full or disconnecting a lot. ):
Newest version just released. Now, you can cry and laugh. And new maps and shop items.
This is late but...it's "a hero" not "an hero". Depends on the sound of the word, for example, "an honour" would be correct because the 'h' is pronounced.
This game rocks too.
@Fanjita
Actually "An hero" is completely correct. Like said in the review, this game is full of memes and "an hero" is one of those memes.
I can't believe that no one's commented on the awesomeness of the new level editor yet...well, for the record, it's awesome!
I have to admit, I avoided this game for a while since it seemed like a weird premise that any jerk player could easily screw up for everyone else. But I finally tried it last night and I've been playing almost nonstop ever since... it's really addicting.
It's frustrating at times, but it's always fun to watch the insanity play out in each game. The shaman controls are tough to learn, but between practicing in a private room and watching enough other players, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it.
ok does anyone else get 'unable to connect to server :'( ' half the time that's what i get and it's really making me mad because I love love love the game!! It's an awesome game even though i'm horrible at it..... but yea i havent been able to get on very much lately b/c the server is almost always down...
I am Pupdude
I would like to suggest a room.
/room Cheese
Help each other to get cheese
Update