Mushroom Musume

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what if you’re raising them alone in the woods? And what if the child is also a mushroom? This choice-heavy raising sim is the first to answer these common questions. Spanning Spring to Winter, a single playthrough of Mushroom Musume takes about 20 minutes and is split into three chapters : 

Prologue
Once upon a time in the woods, the Recluse yearned for someone to share the beauty of nature with; not a partner, but a child of their own. One day, they meet a Witch who promises them a daughter if they take care of some chores for her. The nature of these three tasks varies from playthrough to playthrough but how you fulfil them will shape your girl’s personality and set the colour palette for the later chapters (this can be changed in the settings to any palette you have unlocked).

Cultivation
The bargain fulfilled and the debt paid, the Recluse set to work raising their mushroom daughter from a spore to a charming/aloof/eaten in a bout of hunger/polite young lady. Manage Nutrients, Finances and Stamina to make sure both of your material needs are met as you ponder the various choices parenting demands. Will you be an overbearing parent or a cold one?  Will she come to know the Witch like a part of the family? Will she watch as you kill a villainous former colleague? It’s all up to you.

A Girl On Her Own
As the seasons shift and she matures, the Recluse’s daughter sets off on her own path in life. In the longest chapter, you play as the woman your daughter has become (assuming she survived your parenting).There are five qualities to keep an eye on now : Dampness, Mycelium, Robustness, Potency, and most importantly Humanity. These traits will impact the chances and choices you can make in this chapter. Be it befriending a thief or dating a fellow mushroom girl, the world is her oyster (mushroom).

In the full game, the word count is set to double the wealth of choices and 30+ endings already on offer, along with an overarching narrative. There will also be minigames that use Spores your daughters generate at the end of their story as currency to summon (gamble for) rare items. Alternatively, you can buy items for the gardening minigame where you can have more influence over future daughters based on what you grow. Progress will not carry over from the demo as the core loop will be expanded, but players can look forward to “a little bonus” if they have played it.

I’m well aware of the influence and impact of raising sims like Princess Maker on RPGs and video games in general, but it’s a category of narrative-heavy game that I’ve not explored much. With how fun this morbid fairytale of a game demo was, I’ve got to play more examples of the genre before the full Mushroom Musume is finished growing.

In a word : sporesome.

Mushroom Musume is an upcoming raising simulator developed and published by Mortally Moonstruck Games for PC via Itch and Steam, targeting a Q4 release. All images copyright Mortally Moonstruck Games unless otherwise stated.

This article is part of the Summer of Demos series, where I’ll be releasing a Demo Diving preview article each day in July. If you liked this article, be sure to share it with a friend or enemy. If you back me on Patreon, you get access to articles one day before they release anywhere else. If we reach £25/month before the end of July, I’ll extend the Summer of Demos into August.

• https://mortallymoonstruckgames.com/
• https://store.steampowered.com/app/2484580/Mushroom_Musume/
• https://mortallymoonstruckgames.itch.io/mushroom-musume
• https://mortallymoonstruckgames.tumblr.com/