E3 is dead but it seems like it’s going to be a while before its influence on early June fades away. So far this week we’ve had Day of the Devs, Summer Game Fest, the Apple reveal of its $3500 headset, probably a few others I’m not thinking of right now, and today is the Wholesome Games Direct. It wouldn’t be a gaming show without a few surprises, of course, and one of the big ones is the surprise release of the mushroom-based adventure-platformer Smushi Come Home.
Smushi Come Home (formerly Shumi Come Home before aforced name changedue to “legal reasons”) is the journey of a lost mushroom in a large forest trying to find its way home. The woods are filled with inhabitants who can help Smushi along the way, but as in any good adventure they’ve also got needs to attend to. Smushi will have to run and jump its way from one side of the forest to the other in a series of platforming and puzzle challenges to help everyone and, eventually, maybe find its way back. Unlike many platformers, though, while there is some level of challenge involved there are no game-over screens, and the bulk of adventure is exploring every inch of the forest to find your way through.
I got to play Shmushi Come Home way back at PAX East and have been looking forward to more of it since. Smushi is an adorable little mushroom-critter and the areas were filled with nooks and crannies to poke into, frequently with a collectible that someone elsewhere in the game was looking for. It wasn’t exactly high-impact gaming but that’s more than fine; sometimes you want to swear at a challenge until it breaks and sometimes you just want to enjoy doing things without all that stress, and Smushi Come Home is very much the latter option. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay attention, of course, but rather that exploration isn’t gated behind sudden difficulty spikes.
Smushi Come Home is available now on Steam and Switch, and the launch trailer below shows off the gameplay including paragliding, a lovely chill trip on the back of a capybara, and a peek at the real-life mushroom info contained in the Mycelium Journal. It’s a long walk home for a lost little mushroom, but the forest is filled with helpful creatures who can see it on its way for a favor or two.
