PixelJunk Eden

PixelJunk Eden is the first game in the Eden subseries of the PixelJunk games. It is the third PixelJunk game released by Q-Games. It is a puzzle platformer where you control microscopic creatures called Grimps, and traverse gardens to collect Spectra, to grow your own garden. The mastermind behind the game's unique aesthetics is Baiyon, an independent artist from Kyoto, Japan.

The game has two sequels, Eden Obscura for mobile phones and PixelJunk Eden 2 for Nintendo Switch.

## Gameplay

The gameplay of Eden is quite simple. You can't walk around, rather you jump around to navigate levels. Jumping onto a object, usually a rock or plant, will make you cling onto it to jump onto another object. Plants allow you to swing around them using silk. Spinning allows the player to pass through plants and bounce off rocks. By using the controller's motion controls, it's also possible to perform a drop attack by snapping it in the direction of gravity.

It is mandatory to grow your own plants to progress. To grow a plant of your own, you must first find a seed. Seeds are uncharged at the beginning of levels, and can only be charged with Pollen. Pollen pops out of Pollen Prowlers when they are defeated. Collect Pollen to charge the seed, then jump into it when it is fully charged to sprout the seed. Do this to progress further.

The main goal of the game is to collect Spectra. There are five hiding in each level. Upon entering a level for the first time, the player will only have to collect one of the Spectra, then upon the second time, they will have to collect two, etc. At the fifth time, the player will have to collect all Spectra hiding in the level. From there, their scores will be posted to a local or online leaderboard.

You can find little Crystals hiding around the levels to add time to the level timer, called the Oscillator. If the timer hits zero, (or, if it "goes out of tune,") the level is over and the player will have to use one of their infinite Continues to restart from the last Spectra if they wish. Spectra will refill all time in the timer, whereas Crystals only refill a portion. Interestingly, Continues were part of an update to the game and were not there initially.

Collecting Spectra will grow plants in the hub world, which will allow you to explore further and find new levels. Collecting them all will allow the player to play their own music in the gardens using any music on the system.

The game also supports up to three players at once. Controller 1 has a grimp called Phona, Controller 2 has one called Pana, and Controller 3 has one called Okali. Phona's color scheme changes on the level, while Pana stays pink and Okali stays green. Despite their differences in appearance, they control identically. A grimp will stick onto another grimp as if they were a rock, and can jump off of them. By modifying the controller number, it's possible to play as only Pana or Okali.

If a player goes off screen, a timer will appear and the fallen player will need to return to the screen. Upon the end of the timer the player will reappear in the middle of the screen, however this deletes 50% of the pollen from seeds that have not fully charged yet.

## Levels (Gardens)

Each level, or Garden, is named and modeled after a song. Or could it be that the level was made first, then the song was shaped around it? Either way, each Garden has its own unique music track, background and dominant color palette that changes depending on how many Spectra are collected.

1. 637 volpe
2. Bord de lac
3. They said
4. Summer in winter
5. Flat frog
6. Swept the rain
7. Wheel window
8. Hand-wash
9. Druck der Farben
10. Return

## Encore

In a similar vein to PixelJunk Monsters, the game possesses a purchasable Encore mode which features five new gardens and, if you collect all the Encore Spectra, the ability to shoot silk onto any plant.

New levels are:

1. Circle of clavier
2. 621 balena
3. Versprechen
4. Tribe of gravity
5. ~color()

## Main Staff

Developed by Q-Games Kyoto, Japan

* Executive Producer: Dylan Cuthbert
* Producer: Kantaro Yoshida
* Director: Shouichi Tominaga
* Art Director: Baiyon
* Lead Programmer: Paolo Carabaich
* Programmers: Satochi Murakami, Erin Houston
* Technology Programmer: Jerome Liard
* Visual Effects Programmer: Naoki Kinoshita
* Prototype Programmer: Aurelein Saussay
* Garden Designers: Tatsurou Sawa, Satoshi Ogino, Jesse Venbrux, Shouichi Tominaga, Baiyon
* Artists: Kou Bun Kin, Akiko Hattori
* Technology Chief: James McLaren
* Program Support: Dylan Cuthbert, Ryuji Nishikawa, Jiro Tanizeki
* Testing and Balancing: Shinnosuke Itou, Barret Trickey, Ryosuke Keneko, Tsuyoshi Sato, Asako Itou, Kazushi Maeta, Yakata Kurahashi, Daisuke Takeda, Shigefumi Matsumoto, Akira Wakayama
* Game Concept: Dylan Cuthbert
* Artistic Concept: Baiyon
* Special Thanks: Jacob Woltersdorf, Paul Leonard, Andrew Palmer, Akani Ishikawa, Kenkichi Shimooka, Miyoko Uno-Cuthbert, Izumi Kawanishi, Takashi Asano, Sanae Miyabayashi, Duncan Flett, Mr. Pooh, FontWorks Japan Inc.
* Music and Sound: Baiyon/Tomohisa Kuramitsu
* Sound Mastering: Ken'ichi Itoi

## External Links

* Q-Games Site: http://www.q-games.com
* Pixeljunk Official Site: http://pixeljunk.jp
* Baiyon's Official Site: http://baiyon.com
* Ken'ichi Itoi's site: http://shrine.jp

All links taken from the in-game credits.