Accessible Games

Monster Kart Monday #2: More Mermaid Adventures

By: Jacob Wood, July 22, 2013 News

In last week’s Monster Kart Mayhem update, I talked about the newest race course for Monster Kart Mayhem based on Third Eye Games’ Mermaid Adventures. At that time I hadn’t finalized the Power-Ups or many of the race course details, but now the entire course has been completed.

Each new course, of the six total courses planned, will have a varying number of new racers and race course locations, but they will all have nine Power-Ups. The complete list of new Power-Ups for Mermaids of Monster Kart Mayhem includes:

• Shooting Starfish
• Oi-eel Lamp
• Turtle Armor
• Treasure Map
• Pearl Necklace
• Piranha Repellent
• Clam Clamps
• Clown Fish
• Mime Fish

I’m pleased to say that I have developed new and creative ways to work with the simple game mechanics of Monster Kart Mayhem to make some fairly unique race course terrain effects and Power-Up effects, as well as new Perks and Quirks for each of the racers.

For instance, the Clown Fish Power-Up reads:

Clown Fish
Some people think they’re funny, others just cower in fear. Either way, when you set this clown fish loose on your opponents you’re bound to get results. When you use this Power-Up in place of a Hurt Someone or Cause a Complication action, the target gets to choose one of the following effects:

Laugh Uncontrollably: the clown fish tells a funny joke and you can’t help but laugh so hard you can’t control yourself. You take a -2 penalty to Maneuvering for two rounds.

Flee in Fear: clown fish scare you, and you can’t help but swim away as fast as you can. Your Speed improves by +1 for this round, but the burst of energy leaves you winded and you take a -2 penalty to Speed for the two rounds following.

Mermaid Adventures offers the first Power-Ups to provide options to both the user and the target. Indeed, the race course also offers a few player options which is in contrast to the original Transylvania course. Take the Sea Dragon’s Lair for example:

Sea Dragon’s Lair (750 – 849 km)
A dreaded sea dragon makes her home just beyond the coral reef, and you need to sneak by if you don’t want her to come out and prematurely end your racing career. Good luck with that.

When you begin your turn in this area, you have two options: voluntarily reduce your Speed to Mediocre to quiet your engines and sneak past the sea dragon, or make a Legendary Hurting check to fend off the dragon and continue moving at your current Speed. If you choose the latter option and fail, your Speed is reduced to Abysmal until you exit this area.

The additional options players have add some tactical decisions to the game, and they help keep things interesting as players become more advanced.

Hopefully you enjoyed this week’s look at Monster Kart Mayhem. Mermaids of Monster Kart Mayhem is shaping up to be a great new race course, and I can’t wait to see it in action.

I have another big announcement to make next week, so make sure you check back on Monday for the news!

Series Navigation

<< Monster Kart Monday #1: Mermaid AdventuresMonster Kart Monday #3: MKM Goes to Camp >>