Homunculus

 You are a geneticist isolated from the world on an island rich with specialized genetic material, perfect for crafting the ultimate being, whether that means for good or evil is up to you.

In order to grow your homunculus and tailor its traits of virtues or vices you must complete 3 phases of the game several times.

Phase 1 - Gathering

Explore the island and gather the plants that you want. Each plant provides the genes connected to a specific virtue. Find the clipboard in Laboratory Room 1 to learn which plants hold the key to which virtues.

Phase 2 - Sequencing

Enter the first Laboratory Room and bring your plants to the computer.  Select the plant with left and right arrow keys, and select the row of DNA with the up and down arrow keys.

Each row has a + or - symbol next to them. These determine whether a virtue placed in the row will increase or decrease in the homunculus. You may even see a doubled increase (++) or decrease (--) of the trait. It is a good idea to view this screen and make plans before going out to gather.

Set the plant genes to the currently selected DNA row by pressing X.  The set genes from your inventory will be moved to the top of the screen and cannot be undone.

 

You can trash any remaining plants in your inventory by pressing Z while still in this computer.

Phase 3 - Stabilization

After setting the sequence of all 6 plant genes in Phase 2, you will be directed into Laboratory Room 2. Use the computer that now says "Ready".

Press X at the right time to stop each row of genes. If you can stop them on the light green indicators, then the stability of the DNA will increase. If you miss, then the stability will decrease, depending on how far from the targets you were.

Get a stability rating of 80% or better to have an accurate change in virtues based on how you set them in the Sequence. Unstable DNA will still be injected, and may increase OR decrease that virtue and in unpredictable amounts, regardless of the Sequence. You may sometimes decide to take your chances with mutation when you don't like the sequence variation.

Check the Condition

At any time, you can check the condition of your homunculus by clicking X while near the tank and clipboard on the wall. This shows you the current amounts of each virtue.  A strong virtue will be farther to the right while a strong Vice will be farther to the left.

   

There is a threshold of where a virtue is considered strong or weak. Each virtue can be strongly negative, weakly negative, weakly positive or strongly positive.

When you have fully grown your homunculus, the screen will read "Wake". Review the condition clipboard one final time before waking up your creation and revealing exactly what type of being you made and if you achieved one of your missions.

View your clipboard of missions at the main menu screen. These are saved across multiple plays so you can return to try to check them all off.

The missions are the biggest puzzle of the game. Can you figure out which virtues are required to achieve each mission? Most require 2 specific and strong virtues or vices to be satisfied. Angel and Demon are the exceptions.

There is a hint to help you get started somewhere on the island if you can find it.

This game was made for the A Game by its Cover Jam 2023 and based on the My Famicase Exhibit 2023.

- Code, Pixel Art, and Music by Nerdy Teachers using PICO-8.
- The concept art Famicase "Homunculus" was designed by Agustin Crisostomo and was the inspiration for this game. (used with permission)

Additional Credits:
- Minified with the help of Shrinko8.
- Easing Function based on this article by Fletch.
- Image Encoding with the help of this tool by Jade Lombax.

Updates (should not affect past achievements): 
- Fixed re-entering lab 1 computer error
- Can no longer button mash on Missions Clipboard