Mycocosm

Mycocosm is an arcade-style plant management game where fungi are fast friends and bacteria will cheat you of your precious, precious nutrients! Take part in the war that constantly rages beneath your feet - where resources are traded with unscrupulous dealers, alliances are forged and betrayed, and mighty empires start with a single individual; all within a few grams of soil. As a plant, your objective is simple: survive and grow. To do so, you'll need access to phosphorous and nitrogen, two difficult to find yet vital elements. Fortunately, wandering fungus spores will trade you these resources in exchange for access to your carbon. Everything comes at a price, however, and these fungi will take what they can and exploit you where possible. Risky offers will begin to flood in, so quick reflexes and wary dealings will be your only chance against the trading onslaught. Once you are well-established, it won't be long before enemies home in on your roots. Pathogenic bacteria will be drawn to your nutrients, and they'll gather in great numbers to extract what they can. Your only hope resides in the antibiotics released by fungal allies. As always, nothing is free in the soil. Build a strong root system to maximize your carbon storage, or build leaves to increase your carbon income. Whatever you do, don't wait. The microbial marketplace has no mercy for slow-growers. FEATURES: - TRADE with wandering fungal spores for nitrogen and phosphorous - two vital but costly resources - BEWARE cheaters and dirty dealing fungi that will take your carbon and leave you empty-handed - DEFEND against deadly pathogens that seek to drain your hard-earned nutrients - EXPAND your leaves and roots - enhancing your chances of survival against the onslaught - SURVIVE for as long as you can - pathogens and fungi will gain in numbers and trading ability over time - LEARN about how real world fungi help plants through educational factoids - CHALLENGE yourself to break records in pathogen-killing, nutrient-harvesting, and plant-growing - PHOTOSYNTHESIZE in a refreshing art style that exaggerates the messy dealings that occur beneath the ground every minute of every day **Development was supported by the Kiers Lab at the Free University of Amsterdam. To check out their real scientific work, visit their website: www.tobykiers.com