This update focuses mainly on bugfixes and improvements. We added sound effects to many objects that lacked them, and we improved a bit on the quality of our existing sound effects. We also added a settings screen with volume controls so that players can adjust the volume of sound effects and music.

The difficulty curve has been made less steep, with harder levels pushed later and most of the hardest levels replaced with easier ones.

In this update, we removed cutscenes and collectible journal pages. While we feel that these added value to our game, they aren't that important to core gameplay. Moving forward, we will be putting core gameplay first. These features will be added back once all the areas of the game have been completed. We will be making an announcement soon that goes into more detail about our plans for the future of this game. Thanks for your support!

New Features

- Added a Settings menu. Here, you can control the volume of music and sound effects. More settings will be added later.

- Added Tip blocks that display tips while the player is sitting on them.

- (WebGL Only) Added buttons to the HUD to toggle SFX and music.

- (WebGL Only) Added a UI pause button to the HUD.

Changes/Improvements

- Removed cutscenes. They will be added back in a future update.

- Removed collectible journal pages. They will be added back in a future update. Existing saves will keep all collected pages.

- Updated Unity from 2021.3.14 to 2021.3.30.

- Changed level order so harder levels appear later.

- Replaced hard levels with easier levels.

- Made minor changes to some levels to make them easier.

- Made it so that no more than 1 new obstacle or ghost type is introduced per level.

- Made Open Switch blocks more distinguishable for the colorblind.

- Changed lore related sprites.

- Made a certain door less confusing.

- Reverted the score counting sound effect to the old version as the new one was obnoxious.

- Reduced the default volume of music and sound effects.

- Added sound effects to switch blocks and crumbling blocks.

- Added sound effects to ghosts. (These are only audible when close to a ghost.)

- Level sound effects will now stop playing while the Win or Lose Screen is open.

- Added health pickups to the secret level to make it a bit easier.

- Made respawns in the secret level more fair.

- Added a particle effect when a gem is collected.

- Fixed a glitch where a heart displayed on the HUD wasn't breaking if Mr. Stretch was hit while stationary.

- Added a multi-layer parallaxing background to the Grand Entry.

- Added a link to the Muketronics YouTube channel on end and title screens.

- The HUD Will now display the last gem color collected to the left of score.

- The HUD will now display the point value of the current move below score.

- Certain Treasures that can only be collected once now display different sprites after they are collected.

Today we are excited to announce that we are launching a Kickstarter to fund further development on "Mr. Stretch and The Stolen Fortune"! The full version of Mr. Stretch will be available on Steam and Itch.io, and it will include 6 additional Areas! Including the waterworks, showcased in the video bellow!

This post is all about Mr. Stretch and the Stolen Fortune, a game that Muketronics has been hard at work on. You can play Mr. Stretch on NewGrounds here: Play Mr. Stretch!

Introducing Par Score

In Mr. Stretch and the Stolen Fortune, things have a tendency to be more than meets the eye, and it's up to you to solve this mystery. Gabb seems to insist that par score is the way to unlocking great treasure. Play Mr.

Mr. Stretch levels can seem a little easy at times, especially when looking at levels like 1:11:

At first glance this level just looks like a cash grab, but if you try to get the par score, you'll soon find yourself tied in knots:

How exactly does par score work though? Today, we will be providing an in depth explanation, so that players like you can work to achieve par score. First we will go over how par score is created for a level.

How it's made

Each level has a different par score, dependent on how many gems are in the level, and how many of those gems can be chained together or used to build color bonuses. First we arrange the gems in complex color patterns that make color bonuses more challenging to interpret, making even the simplest of levels a puzzle. Then we play the level over and over again, each time trying to get the best score possible, without doing anything too difficult. Finally we take the best score we have(this is very rarely the best possible score) and subtract 1000 or so points from it so that the par score is more accessible to people who don't work 8 hours a day on the game.

Gem Scores

To achieve par score in a level, it is vital to understand how the points system works, here is a quick mathematical breakdown of how gem score works: Gem Score = (10+(5*Color Bonus))*Chain Multiplier

In other words, the gem score is decided by two variables: Color Bonus and Chain Multiplier.

Color Bonus

For each gem collected of the same color in a row, the gem's base value will increase by five, so if you grab five emeralds, stopping between each, your gem scores will look like this respectively: 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. When you are building a gem score, the color of the score indicator will change depending on the color you are grabbing. When color bonus is broken, the score indicator will change back to white.

Chain Multiplier

Collecting more than one gem in the same move will increase the chain multiplier by one each gem grabbed. Grabbing gems in a chain without color bonus would give you these scores: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. This multiplier is applied on top of color bonus, so color bonus is best utilized when building a long chain, giving you scores like this when paired with increasing chain multiplier: 10, 30, 60, 100, 150.

Final Score

Final score is influenced by the following additional factors: Final Gem Multiplier, Time Bonus, and Heart multiplier.

Final Gem Multiplier

The last gem that you collect on a level is worth 10 times its normal value, this is done on top of color bonus and chain multiplier, making it so that the last gem has the potential for ridiculous value.

Time Bonus

Time bonus is a small point bonus that you get based off how much time it takes for you to clear the level, it starts out at 300 points, and decreases by 1 for every second that you spend in the level. Once 5 minutes elapses, there will no longer be any time bonus. Time Bonus rarely contributes very many points, so it shouldn't be your primary focus. There is no level time limit, so don't wory about running out of time.

Heart Multiplier

After all of your points are added together at the end of the level, they are multiplied by the number of hearts you have left. There are exceptions, but on most level's it is impossible to get par score if you are missing any health. Heart Multiplier is the most important score modifier.

Quick tips

Here is some advice to help you quickly decide how to get par score on a level.

• DO NOT take damage, if you get hit, try again. Avoid dangerous situations.
• Prioritize chain multiplier over color bonus, it's worth more points.
• Where possible, try collecting gems in color sets, especially on levels that prevent long chains.
• Collect the biggest gem bonus last, getting a bigger final gem score.
• When chaining gems together, remember to try to grab them in color sets to maximize points.

I hope that this cleared up how par scores work, stick around for the demo update that is coming out soon. Good luck getting par scores. Have a great day!

To stay up to date on Mr. Stretch, subscribe to us on Youtube!

Muketronics on YouTube

Mr. Stretch on NewGrounds

Wishlist Mr. Stretch on Steam!

Mr. Stretch and The Stolen fortune will be participating in the Steam Next Fest. There will be several gameplay streams on our Youtube channel throughout the event, discussing the future of Mr. Stretch!

Mr. Stretch and The Stolen Fortune has been a long time in the works, and we're exited to say that a demo will be available later this month containing the first 21 levels!