Terrorarium Gameplay Preview – Pikmin Adjacent

I try my hardest when writing about games to not compare them to other similar games because I feel like that is a really lazy way to describe something. I’m still guilty of doing it from time to time because it’s a hard habit to break out of, but I think there’s no way around it this time. Terrorarium is a Pikmin-esque game.

You play the role of a jilted gardener who always comes in second. Fed up with being the perennial runner up, you decide to take drastic measures and go attain the help (voluntary or otherwise) of the fungal Moogus to get a leg up on your terrorariums.

The Moogus will try their best to follow you around without dying and you can use them to get around obstacles, with the end goal of feeding the giant plant enough Moogus for it to drop its fruit.

There are a variety of Moogus much like Pikmin, ranging from Moogus with very tough skin that can withstand criticism, but more importantly, can withstand the impact of being thrown at breakable objects blocking your path. The other Moogus are too soft and will complain if thrown, mostly by exploding.

The spicy Moogu can light burnable objects on fire and let you pass through flames unharmed. There are gooey Moogus, and more Moogu types than you can shake a stick at.

The game introduces more elements that add to the puzzle like aspect of the platforming via hazards. Different things like water, will harm the Moogus but not harm your gardener. Spikes will kill the gardener instantly, but the minuscule Moogus will have no problems navigating through them with ease. This creates an interesting dichotomy to the game play and how you navigate through the levels.

The game currently has around twenty six levels, which will take approximately around six or so hours to beat. If you want more Moogu mayhem, there are many community levels as well as a custom map editor so you can spend an eternity throwing Moogus to their doom. Some of the custom levels are incredibly well made, and some are just plain evil.

Overall, Terrorarium is a brilliant and lighthearted puzzle platformer. The addition of the level editor and community levels will make sure that you will always have more fun and frustrating levels to play. Time to make like a tree and get out of here, Ducky Obrien out.