Gum Bubble

**Gum Bubble** is a core mechanic in the game. By pressing and holding  a player can blow up Gum Bubble. This can be utilized for certain different abilities. The player can craft a Gum Weapon, block upcoming attacks with a Gum Guard, shoot at their opponents with a Gum Shoot, glide, or move around the stage quickly with a Gum Boost.

The Gum Bubble is bound to S-Energy. Depending on the player's current S-Energy level, the Gum Bubble will grow to be one of 3 sizes, small, medium, or large. A small bubble needs 1-3 units of S-Energy, medium needs 4-7, and a large bubble can be reached when the level is at 8+. The size in general affects the strenght of the chosen option. For example, a large sized bubble can block more upcoming attacks than a small one, a Gum Shoot can deal more Gum Damage and a Gum Boost accelerates faster and reaches further.

During blowing a bubble the player is able to move and jump. Dodging cancels the bubble. A mid-air jump would result into an Gum Boost and instead of attacking, the player would do a Gum Shoot. If a large Gum Bubble is inflated when falling the player starts to glide.

## Gum Guard

Inflating a gum bubble by pressing and holding  results into a **Gum Guard**. With Gum Guard upcoming attacks can be blocked. After being attacked the size of the guard bubble shrinks. So it's not possible to block all the time. Depending on the size of the bubble the number of blockable attacks varies. A large bubble can guard against more attacks compared to the small one. After being attacked the bubble needs some time to recover to get back to its initial size. If more attacks are continue to hit the guard bubble suffers from critical damage. This eventually leads to losing the bubble guard. In this moment a small icon appears on screen telling the player they are unable to guard. The bubble needs to be recovered. The only defensive option left is to move and dodge.

When an opponent hits the player during a Gum Guard, the player ends up in a block stun while the opponent gets a recoil. Both cannot perform any action for a short period of time. Block stun and recoil can take a different amount of time depending on the attack, but recoil in general takes a bit longer than block stun. So the player is in a bit of an advantage. A bit does not mean the next attack the player is choosing will definitely hit successfully. That is, because each action has its own timing. For example, most attacks are not fast enough to strike back. By the time, the attack would hit, the other player can already guard on its own with a Gum Guard. Therefore different strategies needs to be considered.

However, not all attack types can be blocked. Gum Ninjutsu cannot be blocked. Some Specials cannot be guarded against as well. Break Attacks in general are the counter mechanic to Gum Guard. If Break Attack used successfully, the Gum Guard user will end up in a Gum Bind state from where the attacker most likely knock them down and score an IPPON.

If a player gets hit during inflicting the bubble stops growing. It needs a short time to recover before it can be inflicted again by its initial max size. So if a player is about to prepare a large sized Gum Guard or any other Gum Bubble option but get caught by a attack the bubble needs to recover. Otherwise only a small or medium sized option can be used depending on the moment they got caught.

During Gum Guard the player can move and jump. Attacking, dodging and jumping in mid-air cancels the Guard to other Gum Bubble options.

With the Shinobi Card "Gum Guard Master" a player can enhance the Gum Guard. Equipping the card lets the Guard Bubble endure more attacks. If the Assist Code "Reduced Cooldown" is equipped the recovery after getting hit can be decreased.

## Crafting a Weapon

To craft a Gum Weapon the player first has to inflict a gum bubble with  and then press the Gum Morph Button  after it reaches its max size. Crafting takes a short period of time during which the player is vulnerable. So the player has to be careful when crafting. At the start of any battle, the player automatically crafts a weapon. As crafting depends on a gum bubble and therefore S-Energy, the level of S-Energy takes an important role. There are two sizes of weapons, regular and big. Simmilar to other gum bubble actions at least 8 S-Energy units are needed to be able to get a big weapon. A regular sized weapon will be crafted at the start of a match because the S-Energy level is at 4. So regular sized weapons can be crafted with up to 7 units of S-Energy while 8 or more are needed for a big one. Visually there is a difference so big weapons can be easily recognized. Big weapons do more damage and unlock an additional passive ability. They are also adventagous when it comes to parries.

## Gum Shoot

*Main article: Gum Shoot*

If the player attacks by pressing / during a Gum Guard the player will instead shoot a **Gum Shoot**. A Gum Shoot is a projectile attack which mainly does Gum Damage. Its shape and behavior is determined based on the chosen weapon. There are various Gum Shoots with different strengths and weaknesses. Depending on which size the Guard Bubble is the Gum Shoot will be stronger or weaker. Shooting a small bubble therefore results into a Gum Shoot dealing small amounts of Gum Damage while large Gum Shoots do lots of Gum Damage. If enough Gum Damage is dealt, the opponent enters the Gum Bind state and can be knocked down more easily.

## Gum Dash / Gum Boost

A **Gum Dash**, often refered to **Gum Boost**, is a mechanic to maneuver quickly through the stage. It can be performed by pressing  jump in mid-air while  Gum Guarding. Depending on how long  is held the player Gum Boosts towards the direction the camera is pointing to up until its max duration. This duration can be shortened by releasing the Button earlier. The direction can be changed with the  Left Stick. A Gum Boost takes 3 units of S-Energy to perform. If the player currently has 1 unit left, a Gum Boost still can be performed. Based on the selected weapon the Gum Boost can be faster or slower than average, which also affects the distance. The average small boost carries one around 3.5 orange square units (the big squares in the Standby Dojo). And with a large boost the player will go around 4 orange square units. The most optimal way to reach the furthest is by boosting diagonally upwards. This makes use of the act of falling to get further than just the boost.