Mudborne Complete Walkthrough – Breeding Guide, Quests & All Crafting Recipes

Fans of Apico are in for a treat, as TNgineers has debuted Mudborne. This quirky, pixelated management sim tasks you with breeding frogs, and there are plenty of challenges and secrets to discover in the process.

Sporting similar visuals and assets from Apico, players of the bee sim will feel right at home while setting up their froggy sanctuaries, but there isn’t any pollen in this world. You also won’t be playing a nature-loving human. You, yourself, will be the frog.

Below is everything you need to tackle Mudborne and breed a successful pond community.

**This walkthrough is currently in progress. It was last updated on 3/26/2025**

What Platforms Is Mudborne Available On

At the time, Mudborne is only available for PC via Steam. The game costs $7.99 and can be bought in a bundle alongside Apico.

Currently, there has been no announcement indicating Mudborne will be ported to the Nintendo Switch and consoles. However, Apico has been released across platforms, so it is possible Mudborne could get additional releases in the future.

Is Mudborne Steam Deck Certified?

As of March 2025, Mudborne is not Steam Deck certified. However, it does offer controller support with Xbox and PlayStation controllers.

Can You Mod Modborne?

Yes, Mudborne supports modding. To use mods, you can subscribe to the Steam Workshop, download what you would like to add, and then apply them via the main menu under “Modding”.

How To Get Basic Tools

Unlike in Apico, where everything must be painstakingly crafted, Mudborne starts players with a handful of tools, including the Magnifying Glass, Axe, Bug Net, Carpenter’s Hammer, and 20 Buckets.

Players also start with the Encyclopedia and a Compendium that keeps track of all quests in the game.

Follow The Compendium

One of our first big pieces of advice is to read and follow the Compendium as soon as you get it. Critical walkthroughs and items are included in these quests, including the World Map.

How to Get The Map in Mudborne

To get the “Atlus” map in Mudborne, complete “Moving On” in the Compendium. This is completed by finishing every task in the “Getting Around” tab of the book.

How To Remove Algae Blooms

When getting started in Mudborne, you will notice some areas are blocked by algae blooms in the water. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do anything about this until you unlock the Northern Pool and meet Ribbert in the Kindergarten Map.

Once you have spoken to Ribbert for the first time, you will be able to trade for an Algae Filter. It will cost x2 Flat Stinkhorn mushrooms and x3 Waterproof for 3 filters.

Place the Algae Filter in an area suffering from a bloom and add up to three frogs. We recommend Furious Lurkers. This will clear up the Algae and open a path.

How To Get the Workshop Loft Key

To get the Workshop Loft Key, complete the Central Pool, requiring a Vast Mudlurker with genetic key 7444444. Place it in the required pool, and then meditate to enter the dream world.

Once in the realm, use the dream bridges to cross to the small island with a chest. This bridge isn’t available in the normal version of the world. Open the chest to obtain the Workshop Loft Key.

Once obtained, return to the normal world and speak with Hopert to open the loft door in his shop.

How to Access & Open the Workshop Ancient Gateway

After opening the Workshop Loft, players can open the Workshop Ancient Gateway located in the loft. The key requires one Vast Mudlurker and two frogs of any type. Once opened, you can access another version of the world with new maps, bridges, and routes.

How to Find Reception Key G

This key, which looks like a moon with a green gem in the center, is the second key needed in Mudborne. To get it, players need to unlock the Pontoon Pool. This is the second pool that can be accessed. It’s location can be seen on your map.

To unlock this pool, you will need a frog with Nobility and Odor scores of 7. Start with two Gen 1 Common Green frogs. Breed them together.

Mix the resulting frogspawn with an x3 Flat Stinkhorn magic mud. Raise these frogs to adulthood. This will result in a Long-Legged Dazzler.

Catch and place the Long-Legged Dazzler in the second Central Pool. Enter the dream world.

Once there, head up until you find an open door that stands open. Head inside and open the chest to get the key. Head back to the normal world and place the key in the green moon door.

How to Cross Dark Water in Mudborned

To cross the dark water in Mudborne, look for grey Stepping Stone lilypads. If you are like me, you’ll have spent an embarrassing amount of time stuck in the first shallow area of the map.

You’ll need to click on this to jump to them, as there is no active jump command for your little frog man.

Remember to keep a supply of Vast Mudlurkers on hand, as many of the stones are sunken under the water untila pressure plate is activated. Place the lurker on the pressure plates you find to unlock the pathways.

All Crafting Stations in Mudborne and How To Get Them

Unlike Apico, players won’t be crafting their stations from scratch. Instead, you will need to trade for base crafting stations from characters like Hopert. Below are all the crafting stations, what they cost, and who to get them from.

Crafting Station	Cost	Uses	Vendor
Composter	x5 Logs x1 Bucket of Mud	Used to decompose vegetation into compost	Hopert
Bucket	x1 Log x1 Waterproof	Used to hold mud and water	Hopert
Bed	x5 Log x10 Reeds	Used to skip to specific times of day	Hopert
Small Crate	x2 Log x1 Waterproof	Used for storage	Hopert
Large Crate	x5 Log x2 Waterproof	Used to store more items than a Small Crate	Hopert
Cultivator	x1 Log x1 Waterproof	Used for growing mushrooms	Hopert
Crusher	x5 Log x1 Bucket	Crushes mushrooms into powder	Hopert
Cauldron	x5 Log x1 Bucket of Water	Used to make Magic Mud	Hopert
Spawner	x5 Log x1 Small Crate	Used to breed two frogs to make frogspawn	Hopert
Nursery	x5 Log x5 Waterproof x1 Bucket of Mud	Used to modify frogspawn genetics	Hopert
Feeder	x5 Log x5 Waterproof x1 Bucket of Water	Used to feed Tadpoles	Hopert
Predictor	x5 Log x5 Mirror Shards	Calculates traits of frog offspring	Hopert after finding the blueprint
Breeder	x5 Log x1 Spawner x1 Bucket of Water	Auto-breeds existing frogs without altering traits	Hopert after finding the blueprint
Proginator	x5 Log x5 Memory Gel x5 Mirror Shards	Shows traits of previous frog generations	Hopert after finding the blueprint
Algae Filters	x2 Flat Stinkhorn x3 Waterproof	Filters Algae with high Edacity frogs	Ribbert
Small Bug Hotel	x1 Pickled Bonnet x1 Stout Funnel x1 Small Crate	Bug storage and display	Ribbert
Large Bug Hotel	x1 Raucous Conecap x1 Flat Stinkhorn x1 Large Crate	Bug storage and display	Ribbert
Fancy Bug Hotel	x1 Grubby Parachute x1 Bothersome Fungus x1 Large Crate	Bug storage and display	Ribbert
Projector	TBD	TBD	TBD
Stagnator	TBD	TBD	TBD
Bug Trap	x1 Small Crate x5 Log x5 leaves	Traps bugs when placed	Hopert
Farmer	TBD	TBD	TBD

All Crafting Materials in Mudborne

Below are all the useful materials players will collect, and what they can be used for.

Material	Locations	Uses
Reeds	Harvested from Reed plants in water	Trading
Weeds	Harvested from Pondweedlings in water	Trading Making Compost
Logs	Harvested from trees	Trading Making Compost
Waterproof	Harvested from Lily Pads	Trading Making Compost
Salt	Harvested from trees	Making Compost
Leaves	Harvested from trees	Making Compost
Memory Gel	Harvested from Jellyfish	Trading Making Compost
Mirror Shards	Harvested from Dream Crystals	Trading Making Compost
Resin	Harvested from trees in the dream world	Trading Making Compost

How to Mix Mushrooms and Make Magic Mud

One of the most important mechanics in Mudborne is mixing magic mud. Players will use the Crusher to pulverize mushrooms they find in the overworld. Then, they can be mixed with mud in the Cauldron for different effects.

This magic mud is then added to Frogspawn, affecting the resulting genetic traits of the frogs.

Every mushroom has different properties, and multiple mushroom types can be mixed into a vat of mud at one time. Players can use up to three different mushroom powders, and they will interact differently depending on their traits.

Additionally, magic mud strength can be increased by adding multiples of the same mushroom powder. Below are all the traits mushrooms can affect.

• Amplitude
• Nobility
• Odour
• Umbrage
• Ribbit
• Edacity
• Saturation

Each frog has these scores in their genetics, and the score on the mushroom interacts with the existing genetic score. This can be a number from one to seven.

All Mushrooms and How To Get Them

There are a total of 24 mushrooms in Mudborne. Each has specific growing requirements and holds certain attributes important to breeding new fogs. Below are all the mushroom types, where they grow, and how they affect magic mud.

NOTE: This section is being updated as we find each new mushroom.

Mushroom	Realm	Blooming Conditions	Genetic Score
Stout Funnel	Waking	Spores form in Balmy & Drenched areas in damp environments. Blooms when it rains	Aplitude +1
Flat Stinkhorn	Waking	Spores form in Grass in Balmy areas with normal environments	Nobility +1 Odour +1
Withering Rot	Waking	Spores form in Mud & Chilly areas with a damp environment. Blooms when not raining	Amplitude -1 Saturation -1
Bothersome Fungus	Waking	Spores form in Mud & Warm areas with a damp environment. Blooms when it rains	Umbrage +1 Edacity +1
Towering Expander	Dreaming	Spores form in grass in Warm areas with a Normal environment	Amplitude Modifier x2
Fool’s Mirror	Dreaming	Spores form in water in Chilly areas with a Wet environment	Amplitude Modifier x-1 Nobility Modifier x-1
Bloating Mould	Dreaming	Spores form inside in Mild areas with a Dry environment	Odour SUPPRESS Saturation Modifier x2
Shrinking Cap	Waking	Spores form in stagnant water in Balmy areas with damp environment (Kindergarten still pools are optimal)	Amplitude -1 Odour -1

How to Cultivate Mushrooms

To cultivate mushrooms, you will need a Cultivator and Compost.

Place the Cultivator near a wild growing mushroom you want to grow. Add the compost to the cultivator and then wait a few minutes. If placed correctly, the spores from the wild mushroom will land and grow in the Cultivator.

Cultivators can also be placed away from existing mushrooms, but it will take longer for spores to appear inside.

Once grown, harvest the mushrooms.

All Frogs in Mudborne and How To Breed Them

Frog	Base Gene Code	Locations	Breeding/Catch Requirements
Common Green	4,4,4,4,4,4,4	The waking world	Catch with net in the wild
Vast Mudlurker	7,4,4,4,4,4,4	Where released after breeding	Breed to Common Greens and mix fogspawn with x3 strength Stout Funnel magic mud
Long-Legged Dazzler	4,7,7,4,4,4,4	Where released after breeding	Breed two Common Greens and mix frogspawn with x3 strength Flat Stinkhorn magic mud
Pocket Snoozer	1,5,5,5,5,5,5	Where released after breeding	Breed two Dozy Dreamers and mix frogspawn with x1 Fool’s Mirror & x2 Stout Funnel magic mud. Raise the frogs and repeat the above steps a second time.
Furious Lurker	4,4,4,7,4,7,4	Where released after breeding	Breed two Common Greens and mix frogspawn with x3 strength Bothersome Fungus magic mud.
Rancid Lurker	4,2,5,7,4,7,4	Where released after breeding	Breed two Furious Lurkers and mix frogspawn with x1 Fool’s Mirror, x1 Squat Amplifier, and x1 Flat Stinkhorn.
Weeny Sponge	1,4,4,4,4,4,1	Where released after breeding	Breed two Common Greens and mix frogspawn with x3 strength Withering Rot magic mud.
Sleeping Sponge	1,5,5,5,5,5,1	Where released after breeding	Breed two Dozy Dreamers and mix frogspawn with x3 strength Withering Rot magic mud.
Dozy Dreamer	5,5,5,5,5,5,5	The dreaming world	Catch with net in the wild
Spotless Napper	5,5,1,5,5,5,5	Where released after breeding	Breed two Dozy Dreamers and mix frogspawn with x3 Shrinking Cap magic mud.
Spotless Nipper (Standard)	4,4,1,4,4,4,4	Where released after breeding	Breed Slippery Nappers and mix frogspawn with x1 Stout Funnel and x2 Towering Expander.
Slippery Napper (Orange)	1,5,1,5,5,5,5	Where released after breeding	Breed two Spotless Nippers and mix frogspawn with x3 Shrinking Cap magic mud twice.
Pristine Peach-eyes	1,4,1,4,4,4,4	Where released after breeding	Breed two Dozy Dreamers and mix frogspawn with x1 Shrinking Cap and x2 Towering Expander magic mud

How to Breed Frogs in Mudborne

To breed frogs in Mudborne, you will need two frogs and the Spawner. The Spawner can be purchased from Hopert. Place the spawner down and add both frogs. After a duration, the frogs will be gone, and in their place will be Frogspawn.

This will need to be put in the Nursery if players want to change the genetics of the frogs with Magic Mud.

After they are altered, place the frogspawn in the Feeder to raise them into new frogs.

How To Breed Frogs For Specific Genetics & Species in Mudborne

Breeding isn’t just about making more frogs in Mudborne. You will also need to breed frogs with specific genetics to unlock Service Pools. These are ponds that look like large frog fountains scattered around the map.

Each Service Pool requires a frog with specific genetics, and getting them requires the right blend of frogs and Magic Mud.

Understanding Frog Genetics

To get started breeding for genetic traits in Mudborne, you will need a Common Green Frog with Gen 1 genetics. Think of this as your baseline. These frogs start with a score of four in all genetic slots.

To change these slots, players will want to use Magic Mud made with the mushroom color corresponding to the genetic marker. This will raise the base score the same number of score points as the Magic Mud strength.

How to Get Unlock Every Pool in Mudborne – Frog Genetics Breakdown

Below is a breakdown of what is needed to make every Frog type.

Spawning Pools

• Vast Mudlurker (7,4,4,4,4,4,4)- Central Pool – Breed two Gen 1 Common Green Frogs. Mix the Frogspawn with x3 Stout Funnel Magic Mud.
• Long-Legged Dazzler (4,7,7,4,4,4,4) – Pontoon Pool – Breed two Common Greens and mix frogspawn with x3 strength Flat Stinkhorn magic mud
• Pocket Snoozer (1,5,5,5,5,5,5) – Service Pool – Breed two Dozy Dreamers and mix frogspawn with x1 Fool’s Mirror & x2 Stout Funnel magic mud. Raise the frogs and repeat the above steps a second time.
• Furious Lurker/Rancid Lurker (4,4,4,7,4,7,4) & (4,2,5,7,4,7,4)
  • Northern Pool – Breed two Common Greens and mix frogspawn with x3 strength Bothersome Fungus magic mud.
  • Breed two Furious Lurkers and mix frogspawn with x1 Fool’s Mirror, x1 Squat Amplifier, and x1 Flat Stinkhorn.

Kindergarten

• Spotless Napper/Spotless Napper (Slippery – (5,5,1,5,5,5,5) & (1,5,1,5,5,5,5)
  • Breed two Dozy Dreamers and mix frogspawn with x3 Shrinking Cap magic mud. Repeat.
  • Breed resulting Slippery Nippers and mix frogspawn with x1 Stout Funnel and x2 Towering Expander.

How to Unlock New Maps in Mudborne

To access new maps in Mudborne, players must complete the unlock requiremenets for the Northern Pool in the Spawning Pools/Distant Pools map.

After doing this, the Central Junction/Dream Core map unlocks. From here, you can access three different areas:

• Kindergarten/Future Farms
• Residential District/Homeward Bound
• Climate Control/Frozen Dreams

Each area offers new mushrooms, instects, secrets, and missions for players to complete as they work toward unlocking the Hibernation Pool.

Looking for more cozy adventures? Check out our walkthrough for Magical Delicacy, or dive into a wild story in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.

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About the Author

Laura Gray

Administrator

Laura Gray, known as Ezra when not putting pen to paper, is a D&D enthusiast with a love of all things written. They are a collector of fantasy and sci-fi novels, a lover of cooking weird food, and a player of farming sims and Pokémon games. When not engrossed in a re-read of Anne McCaffrey or a deep dive into the Adventure Zone: Balance, they can be found sniffing the cats and napping in half-finished crochet projects.

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