Mutagen

"Navigate your way through ruin-filled forests, as you search for the source of a mutation, converging all flora and fauna around it into blood-thirsty machines."

Mechanics:

Play as Panacea , a lonesome tribal girl who begins to adapt to the machine-mutated animals by wielding their abilities against them amidst their rage against the forests. Panacea begins her journey with basic abilities such as:

• War Club - A strong close-range attack that may deliver either strong or weak blows depending on your luck.
• Primitive Short Bow - When its appropriate button is held down, the attack is charged making it faster and more powerful.
• Dash - Three quick dashes which take time to cooldown before they can be used again. Useful for combat and traversing levels.

After defeating a group of enemies, Panacea can use their leftover parts to build Augments. These Augments provide her with new abilities and more powerful versions of her base attacks. Augments are divided into three types; 

Gravity:

Gravity based attacks help crowd control of enemies and keeping them at a distance from you. With abilities such as "G.O.D." (Gravitational Ozone Deflector) which pushes all nearby enemies away from the player, or the "Singularity Vacuum" ability which creates a pocket black hole which brings enemies closer to a point while dealing damage.

Light:

The Light archetype focuses on explosiveness and rapid combos. Most abilities from the Light archetype are fast and strong such as the "Radiant Lance," an ability which replaces your primitive bow with a light beam which deals damage on impact and with the explosion that follows after, or the "Prism Nova" a special augment which deploys a mine that when hit by an attack of yours explodes with high damage and big radius.

Tech:

Tech abilities are more rare, yet versatile. For example; the "Rewind" ability keeps track of the last place you were 3 seconds ago at all times, when used the player teleports back to that location, allowing them to escape danger quickly, or the E.M.P. which creates a large bubble around the player which stuns enemies momentarily and deals medium damage also.

Combinations:

Some of these abilities can be combined with other augments within their own type to provide stronger effects. 

Enemies

Deer

The Deer has been augmented in its feet and strength making it fast and agile, forming its body into a close range enemy. Although they may look cute and harmless don't get too cocky as they pack a punch when they're together. These deer are also known to be strongest when wielding gravitational forces.

Shoebill 

The Shoebill has been mutated to have weaponised wings along with cannons inside its beak forging it into the ranged enemy. These silly little buggers will make sure to put a distance between you and them as they try to hit from afar, constantly moving to stay away from you and to be within sight. These birds are known to be terrifying when wielding light-based abilities, only those fast enough survive.

Tiger

The Tiger is the most mutated animal introduced... yet. Wielding an extra pair of legs the tiger is able to move quickly across the the arena, providing devastating blows and being able to take multiple hits before he goes down. You better pray you don't come across multiple of these.

Ä̵̵̢̛̜̞̮̹̠͔̻͖͙͈̩̫͍̲̲͕̮̖̽ͥ́̋̂͛̊̒͊ͪ̉̅́͑͌ͦ̚̕͝͞b̷̢̥̺͕ͭ̂͠ỳ̵̢̢̢͈̣̺̭̈́ͥ̀͆̓́͟͜͠͞s͉̜̥̓ͤ͜s̶̷̢̫̜̘͖̝̙̭̳̭̟̝̹̖̗̦̣͓̳ͮ̾͋ͥ̾̀̐̀̏͗̄ͫ͟͝͞a̛̖̫̭̮͙̖̲̟̹̠̟̤̲ͥ̋̆̌ͦ̇̉͒̈̽̃͆̿̈ͥ̂̇̎ͩ͟͞l̢̧̛̖̗͈̫̮̜̟̲̣̹ͬͤ̂ͦ̽͌͛̓̂ͤ̈́̈ͩ́̓͐ͮ̚͟͠͠ P̷̢̦͍̬̎͛ͩ̌ͤ͛͞͠ỷ͎̪͉͂͑̄͞r̸̴̶̨̧̨̧̟̗̖̬̰̱̭͇̦̬̰̲͓̖̐̄͑̽͐̾̈ͧ͗̔ͨͭ͢͝ȩ̶̸̳̖̦̥̖͓̜̲̞̹͖̞̖̉͌͐̋̅ͬ̿͐ͦ̿͆ͭ̔̏͒̃̔͞ͅķ̷̷̨̣͉̠̬̬͇͐ͧ͛̏͘̕i̶̻̣̜̭̯̇̔̈́̐̇ͯ̕_̶̲ͥͨ̚ͅn̢̢̝̞ͮ̀ͥ̿ͬͪͤ͝_̖̣_̵̠̙̩͚͔ͨ͋͂̕͘

I̸̪̽̓̿̆̆͊̿̌͊́f̸̨̲̞̝̱̥̹͎̌͂̓̊̀ ̴̨̠͔̘͚̗̌̃̀̊͊̓̓̓̍́̚͜͝͝m̸̛͖̪̱̘̙͒̾̃̅̽̊̂̀͘͝ȩ̴͕̝̖͖̣̜͉̮̇̑̓͊ţ̴͎͚̦͉̲͎̭̻̦̾̓́͑̚͠ ̷̹͎̬͍̖͈̪̘̂w̵̨̢̞̙͍̘̳̭̖̮͓̩̠͒̎̾͆͐̔̚i̴̟̗͂̈́̑͆͆͝t̷͙͛͒̆̃̈̀́̓̉̏̀̀̔̕h̵̝̲̗̯͛͂̀ ̵̼̦͙͈͙̽̿̆̅͂̊ͅt̶̨̗̘̤̱͖́̏̓̃̾̈͊h̶͇̫̓͘ͅè̶̡̠͍̘̤̩̈́̌̏͐̊̇̈́̄͑̒ ̶̛͖̼̘̹́ͅP̴̗͆̋̔͆̉͂y̸̢̢̯͒̍r̶̯͎̻̱͍̭̎̈́̍́̒͛͒̑̌̓̋̚͜͠͝e̸̫̠̒̆̌͊̍̉́̿͛̂̇̕͘͝k̵̭͔̗̝̤͎͛̇̾͆̃͘͠ĩ̵̢̨̤̜͕̯͔̬̬̱̟̥̈́͑̽̍́́̎̂ͅn̵̥̰̞̼͈̤͉̘͓̺̖̪̥̍̌̃̈́̋̏̚͝͠͝,̸̡͍͓̩̤̺̫̐ͅ ̵̟͖̀̎̈͋̐̅͘͜ͅp̵̡̢̺͕̞̤͔̳̭͔̟̏̀̓̓̉̑̐̌́̚͜͝r̶̛͈̙͚̼͕̝̼̞̰̗͈͎̬̋̓̅͐̉̈́̑̆́̊́́̉̚a̷̧̢̟͔̲̟̙͓̲̾ẙ̴̳͙͇̺̭̩̰͙̬̟͈̠̣̠ ̷̝͚͖̮͑̋̓̈́̄̇͒́̀̌̈́f̵̳̺̳̤̦̯̟̦̩̮̬͖͎̓͝o̵̳̥̗̘̗̽̇͗͘ŗ̴̘̹̪̰̫̹͎͕̣̮̘͋͂̀͛̂̽͂͑̽͗̈́̄̉͝ ̵̢̰̥̣̹͉̱̈́̂̈̂̕m̴̡̨͇͕̙̞̰͙̫̙̻͔̠̰̬̿̀͂͌̑̔̔̃̃̕͝ḝ̶̧̫̹̹̠͍͈͚͖̮̝̫̊͑̅̀̚͝ŕ̸̡̩̗͍̙͓̹͕̰̩̚ç̸̡̱͔̱̹̉͑͜ÿ̷̡̢̠͈̗̻̝̘͖̞͍̟́́͐̿̑̋̚ͅ.

Controls

Action	Keyboard
Movement	WASD
Aim	Mouse
Melee Attack	Left-Click
Ranged Attack	Right Click (Hold)
Dash	Spacebar
Special 1	Q
Special 2	E
Interact	F

Dev Notes

Mutagen is a 3D pixel-art game inspired by the likes of Legend of Zelda, Hyper Light Drifter and The Pathless. It's an end of year student project, made by "Rat Pit Studios" since mid-July 2023. This latest build is our first Alpha pass of the game, presented at Supernova Adelaide 2023. Please leave feedback in the comments below. Thank You for playing our game.

-Rat Pit Studios