Variant Mode
Variant Mode is a special feature similar to Assist Mode and becomes a toggle-able setting after finishing 8C or after unlocking Cheat Mode on any save file. Its main purpose is allowing players to modify parts of the game to make it more challenging. Variant Mode also lets you use the "assists" you can find in Assist Mode. A save file currently using Variant Mode will have a banner on the save file select menu.
Variants
These are all of the values you can change to modify gameplay using Variant Mode.
Game Speed
Allows you to change the games speed to any multiple of 10 between 50-160%.
A slower speed will give the player more reaction time, while a faster speed will make the game more difficult.
Some physics will change with different game speeds, such as a speed of less than 100% causing 5-jumps to clear 6 tiles.
This feature can be found in Assist Mode, however, you can only lower the speed.
Mirror Mode
Flips the whole map to appear mirrored, but does not affect the games controls. Some particle effects like the points you get from strawberries are also flipped.
360 Dashing
Allows the player to dash at any angle instead of the eight directions normally. This can help when trying to pull of a specific move, and in some cases make tricks much easier. 360 dashing mainly affects people who play with controllers, and does not noticeably change keyboard controls.
Invisible Motion
When moving, Madeline will become completely invisible, making it hard to keep track of where you are.
No Grabbing
Completely disables Madeline's grab move, disallowing the player to hold onto walls. You can, however, still perform walljumps like normal. This makes many sections harder and causes some sections to require neutral jumps.
Grab can still be used to trigger blocks that react to grabs.
Low Friction
All surfaces you can stand on become more "slippery", making it harder to slow down and speed up. Also applies in mid-air.
Super Dashing
Causes all dashes to last substantially longer, making smaller, more precise movement far more difficult. However, in some cases, having longer dashes can open up sequence breaks, allowing you to skip entire rooms.
A Super Dash can be "steered" while performed by using the directional buttons, allowing for more precise moves.
Hiccups
Causes Madeline to hiccup every few seconds, bouncing you into the air slightly. If the player is grabbing onto a wall or block during a hiccup, they will lose grip and bounce off of it. Hiccups can be used to their advantage if timed correctly, allowing the player to stay in the air slightly longer/higher. Hiccups will still happen if the player is either inside Bubbles or Dream Blocks, causing their trajectory to tilt up slightly.
Other Self
Causes Madeline's appearance to look like Badeline. This is a purely cosmetic effect and does not change gameplay.
Assists
Main article: Assist Mode
Enabling Variant Mode also allows the player to use the same "assists" found in Assist Mode.
Infinite stamina
Grants the player unlimited stamina, allowing them to grab indefinitely. This can be useful for making difficult climbing challenges easier.
Air Dashes
Changes the amount of dashes the player has: Default, 2, or Infinite. Default will use the amount of dashes the player would normally have in the level, whether that is 1 or 2 dashes. 2 will set it to two dashes permanently. Infinite will allow unlimited dashes without needing to refill them or touch the ground, however, Madeline is still constrained to one dash every ten frames. In Infinite mode, Madeline's hair is permanently pink (turning white during dashes).
Dash Assist
Whenever the player holds the dash button, the game freezes and allows them to alter the dash direction, stopping once the key/button is released. Useful for getting used to the dashing mechanics as well as for improving dash precision.
Invincibility
Renders the player immune to all obstacles and hazards, granting the player the ability to freely move through otherwise dangerous obstacles. If you fall off the bottom of the screen, you will bounce out, and holding the Jump button causes the player to jump out higher. If the player would be crushed by a moving block, the block instead disappears until the player moves out of the way. You also don't die from hitting a solid object at the end of a dream block, instead, you just bounce back. Invincibility does not protect you from getting crushed from Heart Gates, and this is the only way to die with Invincibility.
Trivia
- Despite Variant Mode allowing the player to use assists as well, the assist skip option is not available, unlike in Assist Mode.
- Before the 1.3.0.0 release, enabling Variant Mode would enable a purple stamp on the file card. After Farewell came out, it was replaced with the bird stamp that's awarded after finishing Chapter 9. Variant Mode now appears as a purple badge on the side of the file card.
- Variant Mode was originally added in version 1.2.5.0 as a beta. Before it, completing every C-Side yielded no reward.
- The Badeline variant was also inaccessible without editing the game's config file, as some animation frames were missing and they could crash the game.