Every once in a while, a puzzle game comes along that completely masks its intellectual bite beneath a blanket of soft pastel colors and charming character designs. Developed by GXN Games and published by QUByte Interactive, Shroomtopia is precisely that kind of Trojan horse.

At first glance, you might think you’re settling into a breezy, mindless Sunday afternoon cozy game. An hour later, you find yourself staring intently at a floating hex-grid island, calculating water elevation dynamics and color theory like a hydrologist with a penchant for fungi.