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Gaining Nutrients: Design Overview

Mushrooms require nutrients to grow, right? But where do they come from...

MYCELIUM! Check out the cords, the fluff, the sprawling threads.

(foraging photos taken by myself)

The main body of a fungi is actually underground, as demonstrated above. The mycelium network provides access to existing or decomposable materials such as wood, plants, and even other fungi!

In SporeBloom, the conjoining colored patches are your network:

The basics:

  • Tile Nutrients discovered my your mycelium are added to a shared group
  • Group Nutrients can be sent anywhere within the network for consumption
  • Creating Blooms requires these Nutrients (yum!) as a resource
  • Blooms (the 'mushroom' of your fungi species) score you points for victory

Here's an example:

> The Yellow BeanStripe player has a mighty 11 Nutrition, absorbed via expanding their network
> When they expand to the right, 4 Nutrients will be absorbed into the group

This improved Nutrient system affected many other areas:

Based on feedback, this evolved system is undergoing testing, allowing for a more 'digestible' way to track your growth and progress.

  • Energy is now tied to the # of moves per turn
  • Nitrogen is getting repurposed into a new, to-be-announced feature
  • Rebalancing of Blooms' completion bonuses, such as claiming bonus territory or revealing hidden resources
  • Network battles, where organisms challenge territory and steal Nutrients!

I hope you've enjoyed a peek at translating the kingdom of fungi into mechanics.

Want more mushroom specific content? Let me know.


Join Discord: https://discord.gg/ZNV5q284KH
Support solo development: https://www.patreon.com/c/SporeBloom

Lets inspire young mycologists and expand this genre!

- Jake