Line #3 VideoGame/NumberMunchers


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nm_4318.png]]
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3	One of the first widespread [[EdutainmentGame Edutainment Games]] for the Platform/AppleII, beside ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail''. The player takes the role of a somewhat frog-like Muncher, who enjoys eating things. The player must obey the rules of grammar/math/what have you and munch only the items that match what the question is asking for, or else they lose a life -- they must also avoid the Troggles, hostile critters that find Munchers tasty. Spawned a whole series of Muncher games. Has a [[WMG/NumberMunchers Wild Mass Guessing Page.]]
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5	The games in the series also include ''Fraction Munchers'', ''Word Munchers'', and the trivia-based ''Super Munchers'', which gives the titular hero a "super" form he can transform into to take out Troggles after getting enough correct answers, and a special mission to carry out every three levels, with the fifth and final mission involving the defeat of Dr. Frankentroggle before the cycle of missions starts all over again.
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7	In the mid-90s, a short-lived ReTool of the series was released. See ''VideoGame/MegaMunchersDeluxe'' for more.
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9	''VideoGame/TroggleTroubleMath'' was a spinoff game from 1994, in which the player controls the dog Sparky in order to rescue a kidnapped Muncher from the robot Troggle named TROG, who is planning to take over the world with an army of mutant Troggles. Equipped with the Troggulator -- a device which, by entering an equation that totals the number of Troggles surrounding Sparky (who [[EvilDetectingDog howls at their approach]]) will zap away the attacking Troggles -- and remotely aided by its inventor Magenta, the player must make their way through Santa Bongo, the Great Gobble Desert, the Muncher Mystery Cave and the Troggle Swamp, each with three special areas per level. Inside, players solve word problems in order to open a chest; clearing a specific chest will earn an item and open the door to the next level. After clearing the appropriate chest in Troggle Swamp, players meet TROG himself a little ways away, learning he was an unwilling pawn for Dr. Frankentroggle. After he leaves, the player and Sparky must then clear four more levels in the same manner -- revisiting the Muncher Mystery Cave, the Great Gobble Desert and Santa Bongo before going into a new world, a space-time warp where Dr. Frankentroggle is keeping the Muncher. Clearing the appropriate chest opens the door to his lab and ends the game.
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11	----
12	!!This game provides examples of:
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14	* BigEater: Both the Muncher and the Troggles. The Muncher devours answers, and the Troggles devour the Muncher and other Troggles.
15	* BinomiumRidiculus: The Muncher and the original Troggles all have "scientific names" as well as their regular names.
16	* {{Cutscene}}:
17	** "Great Moments in Muncher History" in ''Number Munchers''; similar but untitled cutscenes in ''Word Munchers''; and [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Olympic]]-themed scenes in ''Fraction Munchers''.
18	** ''Super Munchers'' instead activates a special mission once every three levels (the four missions being: identifying the Troggle with the map to Dr. Frankentroggle's lab; finding the key to Dr. Frankentroggle's lab; finding the password that will shut off Dr. Frankentroggle's security robots; and flying up the cliff to the lab, avoiding falling rocks and anvils while catching calling numbers), with failure resulting in having to replay it after another three levels. After completing the fifth mission (which is really just a regular cutscene of Super Muncher stopping the Frankentroggle Monster from being activated), the cycle of five missions starts all over.
19	* EliteMook: Smartie (''Trogglus smarticus''), especially if more than one of them are on the board at the same time.
20	* GoKartingWithBowser: Muncher and Doggle in the second.
21	* HalfHeartedHenchman: Bashful (''Trogglus timidus''). If you approach her, she will move in the opposite direction.
22	* HeroicComedicSociopath: Some of the {{Cutscene}}s show the Muncher doing some very cruel things to the Troggles.
23	* ImAHumanitarian: If one Troggle enters a square occupied by another Troggle, one of them will eat the other one.
24	* OneHitPointWonder: Eating one wrong number or running into one Troggle or bullet fired by one will cost you a life.
25	* OneUp: An [[VideoGameLives extra life]] is awarded upon reaching a thousand points, and another at 10,000.
26	* ScoringPoints: Because you want to put cool messages along with your name atop the Muncher Hall of Fame.
27	* SuddenNameChange: The Muncher's "scientific" name varies by game.
28	* SuperMode: Eating items successfully in ''Super Munchers'' fills up a meter that, when full, allows you to move to a space that turns Muncher into Super Muncher. As Super Muncher, it moves faster and is immune to Troggles. Eating an invalid item empties the Super Meter, forcing the player to restart the process of filling it again and (if applicable) reverting Super Muncher to normal.
29	* TheGoomba: Reggie (''Trogglus normalus'').
30	* VideoGameLives: You start with three, and lose one every time you eat an invalid item or get caught (and eaten) by a Troggle.
31	* WaddlingHead: Every character in the first game.
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33	!!''Troggle Trouble Math'' provides examples of:
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35	* AnotherDimension: The Troggles originate from one. Using the Troggulator forces them back there for the time being.
36	* BigEater: The Troggles, as usual. If they reach Sparky before the Troggulator is activated, they eat an entire box of the Sparky Snacks he carries (and any others he's picked up in the meantime).
37	* DeflectorShields: The Troggulator generates a square-shaped shield around Sparky to protect him until he can zap the Troggles back to their own dimension.
38	* DiscOneFinalBoss: TROG himself, for a given definition of "boss". On meeting him in level 4, rather than fighting him, the player learns he's now free of Dr. Frankentroggle's control and that they have to find Dr. Frankentroggle, who's actually holding the Muncher.
39	* EvilDetectingDog: If Troggles materialize, even before the player can see them, Sparky howls.
40	* HeroicDog: Sparky, Magenta's best friend, who's controlled by the player in their quest to rescue the Muncher.
41	* TheManBehindTheMan: Dr. Frankentroggle, the actual lead villain, who was controlling TROG and is holding the Muncher captive while trying to create an army of mutant Troggles. The player confronts him on level 8 to rescue the Muncher.
42	* MissionControl: Magenta, inventor of the Troggulator. She calls the player at the start of each level to tell them their mission there, then again after they've finished their mission and directs them to find the pathway to the next level.
43	* VideoGameLives: Sparky starts with three boxes of "Sparky Snacks", which serve this purpose -- they represent one life each, and he can pick up more Snacks off the ground to build up another box. If all the boxes are eaten by Troggles though, the game ends.
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Context VideoGame / NumberMunchers