Transformice Review

Transformice Gameplay

Online game Transformice was released in May 2010 by two independent developers, who started the development as a hobby. Later they founded Atelier 801 studio, which is currently a publisher and developer of the game.

In this game, you have about two minutes to bring the cheese in the hole or help others. Each round, one of the players becomes an almighty Shaman, who can use the skills to help other mice safely get the cheese. The shaman has an individual set of boxes, balloons, boards, ropes, anvils and other items. It seems to impossible to build a classic bridge of these objects, but it's possible to experiment with the strategy. The more mice you save during the game, the faster you get the points for the skill tree which allow building unique structures and using the exclusive abilities. Create whatever your heart wants, and help other players to complete their mission—or distract them from the goal.

Most levels have a tricky obstacle course: often mice and cheese are separated by an abyss, a set of ski jumps, an invisible floor and falling bombs. The shaman must quickly predict the situation and prepare all the necessary tools to help the other players to complete the goal.

Transformice features different game modes, and each one has unique challenges and maps. The list of mods includes:

• Normal mode with different types of official and custom maps;
• Vanilla includes only maps created by developers of the game;
• Survivor requires shaman to kill all players while they're trying to find the cheese; Racing is a high-speed race without shamans;
• Bootcamp is a mode with maps that challenge players to test their platforming skills and agility;
• Defilante is a racing mode with ten rounds where players have to complete a map task;
• Module is a mode with all mini-games of Transformice;
• Village is a safe chat room which is suitable for roleplaying and relaxation. This mode also features NPCs who sell in-game merch.

There is also a built-in map editor in Transformice, so the project has just endless replayability. There are only a few hundreds of official maps and millions of custom maps in the game, but the main feature is that you can also create competition and complete it with your friends.

One of the essential features of Transformice is different temporary events, which are usually timed for the holidays. Initially, the players received unique decorative items for participation in the holidays. Still, over time, the developers decided to add an in-game currency to the prizes so that the participants could choose what to buy. Besides awards and charming holiday decorations, the unique events allow diversifying the pastime in the game. For example, one of the most popular game events is fishing, where all players receive a fishing rod which enables them to spend time catching prizes on beautiful pond locations. There are unique challenges and obstacles on all adventures, and players must withstand all of them to complete the goal.

In Transformice, all the items you can buy to customize your mouse are purely cosmetic: you'll never see a thing that affects the gameplay. Also, 100% of the things you buy can be purchased for cheese. Each collected piece of cheese is added to your wallet; the more cheese you have, the more things you can open. Players can choose the colour of items, change the fur colour and character appearance, and decorate the mouse with different hats, suits, and jewellery.