SuperBrie+, Donations & the Golden Shield

Like with most Facebook games, there is a currency in this one that you can get by donating to the developers (that is, spending actual money). But unlike most Facebook games you can a) get enough of that special currency without having to donate in a reasonable amount of time, and b) you don‘t even need to in order to play this game successfully.

Since this is a game about hunting mice, the special currency is a special kind of cheese, SuperBrie+. This cheese has the benefit of an almost guaranteed possibility (officially 99.99%) to attract a mouse, cancelling out any Failed To Attract (FTA). In a game where you are only able to hunt 5 times per hour, FTAs can be a real fun killer.
SB+ can, next to donating, also be gathered during special events, through private competitions from players in the forum or simply from buying it from other players on the Marketplace, an ingame feature. This might be expensive, but it is possible to exchange the normal gold currency of the game into the special donation currency.

SB+ is mainly used for 3 things: 1. SB+ only mice, 2. crafting recipes, 3. tough locations.

• 1. There are mice that can only be attracted by means of SB+. For other normal but rare breeds SB+ usage can be a real booster in terms of luring them to your trap. However, none of these mice are essential for progressing in the game‘s storyline. Sooner or later it‘s nice to fill in the last couple of silhouettes by getting the SB+ only mice, but they are in no way vital.

• 2. At certain points in this game you will have to craft your own special types of cheese to hunt certain mice. You do this with ingredients you loot from different mice or buy in the many shops of the game. Some crafting recipes can be improved so that you gain a higher yield of what you‘re crafting if you use Magic Essence, a substance acquired by smashing SB+ with your Hunter‘s Hammer. Since certain ingredients are hard to come by and it would definitely take a lot of time to get more, at a certain point it is pretty standard to use the Magic Essence recipe. However, it is never mandatory. It‘s just a way to cut a corner, but since you‘re not competing with other players for resources or are under pressure of running out of time, this is completely optional and up to you.

• 3. There are certain locations like the Seasonal Garden, Zugzwang‘s Tower, the Iceberg or the Fiery Warpath, where SB+ can help tremendously in advancing. This is where FTAs can be potentially fatal, and by avoiding them your hunting life gets a lot easier. As always, the usage of SB+ for progression is voluntary, never mandatory.

In conclusion: You will never get to a certain point in the game where donating is the only way to advance, nor will you miss out on vital content that way. I myself have reached the rank of Count without ever using SB+ as bait, and these days getting your hands on it is far easier than it used to be.

Donating to the developers, besides giving them the opportunity to make the game even more awesome, will provide you with certain perks, usually so many pieces of SB+ or other ingame stuff. You can donate via Facebook or on the mousehuntgame.com website through several payment possibilities.

One of the things you (often) get by donating is the Lucky Golden Shield (LGS). The LGS will usually be available to you for one month, the higher the donation, the more LGS time you can get. It doesn’t stack though!
It gives you an added Luck bonus of +7. Since Luck, equally so as Power, is responsible for your trap‘s ability to catch mice, 7 extra Luck points make a huge difference. From time to time the Devs institute a +5 Luck Bonus Weekend as sort of a mini event, which hunters try to take full advantage of, preparing and then hunting in locations that are usually a lot tougher, so they can acquire special ingredients from mice. So you can imagine how much of a difference it is if you play with or without the LGS.

However, once more, you absolutely can play the game without ever using the LGS. I did it, just as with my non-SB+ usage, until the rank of Count. It certainly makes the game more of a struggle, but it also might give you more of a sense of achievement. Again, this is totally your choice, and if you don‘t want to donate and/or get any of the special perks this game has to offer, there is no reason for you not to try and go without them. Some prefer to do things the hard way, others are happy to use every resource they can get their hands on. Totally up to you. Acquiring the shield for a month can cost as little as $1 US.