The kudzu -- a sort of collective consciousness at this point -- ask the mushrooms to help them get rid of their rabbit problem. The rabbits are mutated, covered with spines, and about five times the size of the player's mushroom character Pax, which means that you have to get creative in order to exterminate them. Pax has the power of telekinesis (a Spore Power in the game) that allows him to manipulate objects and set up chain reactions. For example, you can move a fan down onto a rabbit, with predictably fatal (offscreen) results. The camera jumps to something else during the rabbit death scenes in order to maintain the game's E10 rating. Think very hard about what you're saying if you're starting to type an angry comment about the censorship of cartoon rabbit death in Mushroom Men.

For hand-to-hand combat, Pax uses an assortment of stuff found lying about, which can be combined into various weapons. Throughout most of the demo, Pax was armed with a bludgeoning weapon made from a DS stylus with a thimble stuck to the end. There are around 40 unique combinations that range from flamethrowers to blades. These weapons will be used not only for fighting, but for some environmental interaction -- for example, using fire to melt ice in order to access items.

Pax also has one of those sticky, extending rubber hand toys, which he can use as a grappling hook. In almost every case, adding grappling imbues a game with extra win. He also has the ability to glide, using his mushroom cap as a parachute. These two abilities make it quite easy for Pax to navigate the vertical space in the levels.