Active Cabinets

Active Cabinet found inside Viewax's Edifice

**"***The sages used cabinets to guard artifacts, and perhaps even their long lost gesture. Most have fallen into disrepair.***"**
— **Smuldunde**

**Active Cabinets** are artifacts within Hylics 2 that bear a resemblance to real world arcade cabinets. They are optional minigames the player can go through, but are required if the player wishes to learn the gesture Bombo-Genesis among some other items.

## Gameplay

When using a cabinet, the player is transported into a 2D shooter minigame where the player has to get to the end of the minigame and enter a booth in order to unlock a barrier outside it. A simpler way to describe the objective is *"you proceed to the right until you find the booth,"* as said by Mason Lindroth. The player character and every enemy inside these minigames are chibi versions of themselves. Within these minigames the player can collect Bones, Keys, Muscle Appliques, and a Paper Cup.

### Enemies

All enemies inside the cabinet can be identified as having a red color, there are about 12 enemies that can be encountered inside the cabinets and all have their own mechanic of sorts.

* **Chibi Poolman** - Poolmen will walk in a straight path until they hit an obstacle, only then they'll turn the other direction, Poolmen can be killed in only 1 hit and can also die from hazards such as lava and spikes.

* **Poolman Pot** - Spawns Poolmen, only ever spawns a new one whenever one it spawned dies, it can be killed in roughly 7 shots.

* **Flat Top** - Flat Tops walk a straight path and only turn when an obstacle is in its way. They occasionally pause to shoot 5x3 shots outward from their head. When shot 3 times, they will solidify into a platform for the player to jump on for about 7 seconds before it becomes active once more.

* **Fish** - A small enemy that can be seen moving in a straight path, either vertically or horizontally. They take 2 shots to be killed but will respawn after a few seconds.

* **Barbed Spike** - Barbed Spikes blend into the environment. They will activate when the player gets close to it and home towards the player. They will explode if they hit the player, get shot once, or if the player dodges through them.

* **Chibi Truculent** - The Truculent can be found roaming small areas. They lunge towards the player on all fours when attacked. They normally drop Bones when killed, and take roughly 10 shots to kill. There's a variant that carries a turret.

* **Squid Shooter** - The Squid can be seen attached to certain objects and shoots 3 missiles in the player's direction. Each missile can be taken down in 1 shot, while the squid itself can be killed in roughly 5 hits.

* **Chibi Coutured** - The Coutured flies in a set path, usually in a wavy motion. They can commonly be found surrounded by Bombs and can sometimes carry a Turret. They take roughly 5 shots to kill.

* **Spline Flier** - This enemy flies in a path and is invincible.

* **Jetman Worm** - A worm that moves in a straight path and alternates between left and right movement, sometimes found with someone riding it. The rider throws bouncy balls that damage the player.

* **Turret** - The Turret follows the player and shoots a single shot that splits into 3 shots. It can be found attached to objects and sometimes other enemies. It takes roughly 6 hits to kill.

* **Bomb** - Bombs are only found with Coutureds and resemble a naval mine. When shot once they shoot projectiles out in every direction.

## History

The player first learns about Active Cabinets when meeting Smuldunde in New Muldul. They mention Dedusmuln searching for cabinets in Viewax's Edifice and that the sages used cabinets for guarding artifacts and a long lost gesture. When meeting Dedusmuln, they tell Wayne that they're trying to infiltrate the fortress in order to find one of the cabinets being inside the walls of the edifice. They join Wayne's party after learning they both have similar goals in mind. Wayne and crew find the Sage of Monitors and it gives them a Sage's Token while also telling them "Our empire was undone by a sudden accretion. Only the cabinets recall its grandeur now."

After finding a functioning cabinet within the edifice, the player has the option of playing it. The game contains a chibi version of Wayne that the player controls. The end of the cabinet's game has a large spaceship in the shape of Wayne's head, with a booth inside it in the shape of chibi Wayne. Entering the spaceship allows the booth to open up and hold chibi Wayne inside it while also activating the spaceship. After competing the first cabinet, the player opens a barrier containing a key to a tower in the Edifice.

After the player gains access to the Airship, they can fly over to an archipelago found to the east side of the world map, with its final island being a cave. Entering it reveals Smuldunde standing next to a barrier with a key inside. They say that the key could most likely could unlock a door deep underground in the Accretion. Jumping down a hole into a lower section of the cave reveals another Active Cabinet on an elevated platform, with a ladder leading up to the controls.

This cabinet's game continues on from the spaceship where the player left off from the previous cabinet. The entire level is based around jumping from spaceship to spaceship, with some ground level areas. Upon reaching the end of the cabinet game the player finds another booth, and entering it turns chibi Wayne into the Sage of Satellites. After completing the cabinet, the barrier around the key disappears.

## Points of Interests

### First Cabinet

* Bones
* 2x Muscle Appliques
* Upper House Key
* Tower Key (Obtained after completing the cabinet)

### Second Cabinet

* Bones
* Muscle Applique
* Paper Cup
* Deep Key (Obtained after completing the cabinet)

## Trivia

The active cabinet minigames reuse assets from a Ludum Dare game Mason Lindroth made called Muldulamulom.

## Gallery

First cabinet located within the walls of Viewaxes EdificeSecond cabinet located to the east of the world map, inside a cave on the last island of the archipelagoRoom full of dead cabinetsChibi Wayne movement, and deathSpaceship seen at the end of the first arcade minigameHylics 2 - gameplay teaserGameplay teaser featuring the second minigame.Muscle Applique seen inside the cabinets.Squid ShooterJetman WormEarly screenshot of the second arcade seen on the Itch.io page for Hylics 2.