Marsnut

PLANT SCIENCE / AIRBORNE COMMUNICATION

Plant VOC Messenger

You are a molecule.
A whole forest is waiting.

TRANSMISSION LOG

    WHY THESE PLANTS MATTER

    Bridge connects both halves of the network. Core is a protected level objective. Their stars come from a game criticality score using degree, betweenness, articulation, function, threat proximity and redundancy.

    THE AIR PATHWAY NETWORK
    ● Healthy◆ Damaged◎ Defense activated★ Key plant✦ Your molecule♣ Pest approaching☀ Drought approaching✹ Pathogen approaching↓ Target plant

    A strategy model of airborne cues. Signal labels are teaching examples, not a universal chemical code. Real responses depend on species, blend, dose and context; drought effects of green leaf volatiles remain an active research area. Relay plants represent fresh emission, not copying molecules. Routes, weather multipliers, thresholds, instant defense, key status, scores and seconds are game abstractions.

    HOW TO PLAY

    Carry the warning through the leaves

    You control the glowing VOC messenger, starting at the damaged Emitter. Play three 35-second missions, or practice at your own pace. Briefings wait for your Begin tap.

    1. Read the approaching fronts: each lists its cue, target plants and arrival time.
    2. Select methyl jasmonate for the game's pest warning, methyl salicylate for its pathogen warning, or a GLV blend for its experimental drought warning. Changing cargo costs 1 molecule and restores strength.
    3. Tap adjacent plants to queue a route, or drag across linked nodes. Preview strength and arrival time, then Transmit. It costs 1 molecule per route and releases a cue at every stop.
    4. Long and upwind routes weaken cues. Temperature and humidity modify attenuation in this model. Stop and Relay here for 2 molecules to restore strength. Release here for 1 warns the current plant after relaying or changing cargo.
    5. Correct cues at ≥35% strength activate defense; wrong or weak cues fail. Plants can store multiple correctly decoded cues. Threats damage plants without matching defense.
    6. Activate at least four receivers and keep the starred plants alive through the final front. Losing a key plant or the connection to one ends the mission.

    First route: choose Fern (2), then Bridge (4), and Transmit. Stop at Bridge and Relay before visiting Willow (5) and Core (6). Stop and relay again before warning Sage (7).

    Practice: the clock advances only while you travel, or when you tap Advance front. Pausing and help freeze both travel and threats.

    Controls: 1–7 queue plants; Q/W/E select pest/pathogen/drought; Enter transmits; R relays; F releases; Backspace clears; Space pauses. Focused buttons keep native Enter and Space actions. Escape closes help. Mouse, touch and drag use the same map.

    Score rewards activated receivers, accuracy, survivors, unused molecules and short routes, with a penalty for damage. Plants do not consciously decode a fixed vocabulary. The game's immediate response simplifies chemical perception and priming; effects depend on species and exposure.

    Research: Volatile priming in maize · Plant–plant volatile interactions · GLVs and abiotic stress