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SUMMER UPDATE
Before: When a new season begins, the rating of all players resets without the possibility to see any previous results (personal or overall). After: The results of all previous monthly seasons (starting from January 2019, when the very first one was played) are now available in the game. The ultimate ladder now shows not only the results of the current season, but also the results of the previous seasons as well. Reason: the ability to check your (or overall) previous results not only is very convenient, but also shows the names of the players who were the most successful in the game in the past seasons.
Before: When a player creates a lobby for a custom multiplayer session, anyone can join it. When someone joins but you don't want to play with them, you can kick them out of your lobby. However, nothing prevents them from re-joining again immediately. After: If you kick someone out of your lobby, they won't be able to come back. The restriction only works for this particular lobby and applies for as long as the lobby exists. Just be careful if you kick someone out by mistake, in order for them to join your session again, you will have to create a new lobby. Reason: Such behaviour can be used to harass or annoy players in the multiplayer lobby, and we would like to protect them from such experiences.
Some changes are invisible, such as optimisation of the server code. Some changes take a long time, such as looking for the alternative to the Singapore server cluster that would provide faster connection to players from Japan and from China. But some changes are much more obvious, such as new cards that arrive to the game with every major update!
Location: The Bank Cost: Free Type: Normal Movement points: 3 Get: -10 income, -malice5. Number of these cards in the default deck: 1 "A charitable donation: the means of securing a discount for future bribes from the gremlin vocabulary. Reason: the idea of a card that allows using income as a resource that can be spent on something else (in this case: malice reduction) was in our heads for quite some time and now it makes its way into the game.
Location: The Casino Cost: Free Type: Secret Movement points: 4 Get: +malice2 Number of these cards in the default deck: 1 Special rule: Look at 6 new cards. You can swap any of them with any cards on your hand. You can play another Casino card in this turn. All cards in this deck are different, no matter from which side you look at them. Reason: we want to "boost" the Casino a bit more with a card that can be played in multiple ways: just for hand management; as a part of a prepared combo where you already have 2 Casino cards when you visit the location; or as a part of a lucky combo in which you find your second Casino card at the top of the deck.
As you may know, when we developed Gremlins, Inc. in 2013-2015, we put little thought into tools and architecture that would allow us to quickly mod the game. Later, we were busy adding major features and game content. And only this year we finally put serious thought and effort into making the game really moddable. The first part of the moddability project is done by now: our own team is able to quickly modify every card in the deck, in addition to the composition of the deck itself. This finally (finally!) allows us to listen to the community feedback and quickly implement changes that make the most sense every month, together with the change of the ranked session rules. We start with re-balancing of 17 cards. The changes are described below in detail. These changes are based on the data of how the cards are used in the game across more than 60,000 recent sessions, as well as on the community feedback and discussions on the game's forums and its Discord server. We would also like to express our gratitude to our Pillars of Community players, whose feedback and recommendations were extremely helpful during the process of re-balancing.
Reason: we want to weaken the impact of this card and to make it more useful for movement. At the same time, the card is now cheaper.
Reason: we want to make this card a bit more effective, since in its current state it doesn't see as much play as we would like it to have.
Reason: we want to make moving with this card less punishing. The card, while very useful in some circumstances, has a very situational effect. In its current state it often becomes a burden that players have no reason to play, but also don't want to use to move because of the cost. We'd like to change that.
Reason: to reduce the number of situations where this card is played completely unexpectedly. Considering how impactful this card is, it shouldn't happen for free, and completely "out of the blue".
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card. Without the extra turn, it still produces a significant outcome.
Reason: we want to make the card a bit more punishing for those who play it, as it currently gets a lot of play despite its criminal status and a relatively high cost of 3 votes.
Reason: we want to adjust the deck that grew much bigger with all the recent updates, and at this point contains many more cards that can be played at the Plant during one session.
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card as it gets a lot of play. As more cards have been added to the game that give additional votes, this card can take a little nerf that would make it less popular.
Reason: we want to make this card more efficient as it isn't played as often as we'd like it to be played.
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card, which is currently so high that players almost always keep it on hand in order to get the money despite its criminal status. Initially, we wanted to reduce the outcome of the card by $100 but after receiving players' feedback we decided to start with $50 instead.
Reason: we want to make this card more attractive for being used to move. Initially it was done through its movement buff but after additional consideration the card was changed in a different way.
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card, and to slightly increase the punishment for playing it for action because in its current state this is one of the most played cards in the game.
Reason: we want to make it easier for players to get rid of this card from their hand, so this would happen more often and the card wouldn't be kept on hand until played for action.
Reason: we want to make it easier for players to get rid of this card from their hand, so this would happen more often and the card wouldn't be kept on hand until played for action.
Reason: we want to to reduce the impact of this card, which is so strong already that even the complete removal of the bonus probably won't change its popularity too much. But we decided to start with the reduction of the bonus first, and to see if a further nerf is needed.
Reason: we want to make this card a bit more popular, and have it played more often.
Reason: we want to give this card a slightly negative effect to compensate for the fact that the player also receives a free score point.
Before: Ranked sessions are open to everyone for as long as they can launch the game and don't have a ban for a Fair Play Rules violation. After: In order to participate in ranked sessions, you also have to own the game on your own Steam account. Reason: free access to the game during free weekends or with the Steam Family Sharing feature is nice, but there are major downsides to it: 1) some of these players don't have any reason to care about the result of a session and often leave it early or purposefully ruin it for the opponents. While we allow the freedom of behaviour in ranked sessions, it doesn't mean that we don't want to reduce the number of such cases. And those who care about the result, often do so for a wrong reason, which brings the second downside; 2) free access can be easily exploited in pursuit of dishonest goals. Players who are banned from the ranked mode for the violation of Fair Play Rules can create a new account and be back in ranked sessions literally in minutes, which doesn't help improving other players' experience at all. This also opens up a lot of possibilities for team play where the same two players use multiple accounts to avoid restrictions of matchmaking. Therefore, we made the decision to limit what is available to the users who don't own the game. They are more than welcome to play against bots or play custom sessions with anyone they want no limits applied there.
Before: when you roll a die with the standard dice-roller, the final number can be predicted by the look at the initial value, and the lever animation is quite jerky. After: the final number won't be known until the dice-roller stops, and the lever animation is now smoother than before. Reason: both changes are made with regard to the feedback that we have received after the Spring update.
Before: the contrast, brightness, and saturation of some of the cards were not in line with the others. After: the contrast, brightness, and saturation of all cards are brought to the same level. Reason: after years of development and adding multiple new cards with new and unique illustrations, we have noticed that their coloring became less consistent. It wasn't awful but it was noticeable enough for us to decide that it is time to give all cards an overhaul in order to reduce the inconsistency.
[ 2020-06-24 11:06:43 CET ] [ Original post ]
The big Summer Update for Gremlins, Inc. is here, and as usual it brings new content and features as well as fixes and re-balancing changes. But before we jump into the details of the update, we wanted to share this information: malice At the end of 2019, we changed our server cluster in Singapore. A couple of months later, we discovered certain connectivity issues with the new server, and we did our best to fix them. We are aware that these efforts weren't entirely successful and some players, mostly from mainland China and certain regions of Japan, still might experience lags when they play the game on the Singapore server. We've spent the last 3 months trying dozens of options for addressing this issue, and we have no intention to leave it "as is" we will continue working on a solution. In the near future, we will be testing other geographical locations to see if moving the server from Singapore to another city could improve player experience in Asia. hypnoheart We are thankful for your patience and appreciate your understanding, and we hope to find the solution that will improve the experience of those players who currently may still experience lags. and now to the changes that this update brings to the game:
NEW FEATURES
Results of the previous seasons
Before: When a new season begins, the rating of all players resets without the possibility to see any previous results (personal or overall). After: The results of all previous monthly seasons (starting from January 2019, when the very first one was played) are now available in the game. The ultimate ladder now shows not only the results of the current season, but also the results of the previous seasons as well. Reason: the ability to check your (or overall) previous results not only is very convenient, but also shows the names of the players who were the most successful in the game in the past seasons.
More control over your custom multiplayer session lobby
Before: When a player creates a lobby for a custom multiplayer session, anyone can join it. When someone joins but you don't want to play with them, you can kick them out of your lobby. However, nothing prevents them from re-joining again immediately. After: If you kick someone out of your lobby, they won't be able to come back. The restriction only works for this particular lobby and applies for as long as the lobby exists. Just be careful if you kick someone out by mistake, in order for them to join your session again, you will have to create a new lobby. Reason: Such behaviour can be used to harass or annoy players in the multiplayer lobby, and we would like to protect them from such experiences.
NEW CONTENT
Some changes are invisible, such as optimisation of the server code. Some changes take a long time, such as looking for the alternative to the Singapore server cluster that would provide faster connection to players from Japan and from China. But some changes are much more obvious, such as new cards that arrive to the game with every major update!
New card: "Charity"
Location: The Bank Cost: Free Type: Normal Movement points: 3 Get: -10 income, -malice5. Number of these cards in the default deck: 1 "A charitable donation: the means of securing a discount for future bribes from the gremlin vocabulary. Reason: the idea of a card that allows using income as a resource that can be spent on something else (in this case: malice reduction) was in our heads for quite some time and now it makes its way into the game.
New card: "Cold deck"
Location: The Casino Cost: Free Type: Secret Movement points: 4 Get: +malice2 Number of these cards in the default deck: 1 Special rule: Look at 6 new cards. You can swap any of them with any cards on your hand. You can play another Casino card in this turn. All cards in this deck are different, no matter from which side you look at them. Reason: we want to "boost" the Casino a bit more with a card that can be played in multiple ways: just for hand management; as a part of a prepared combo where you already have 2 Casino cards when you visit the location; or as a part of a lucky combo in which you find your second Casino card at the top of the deck.
RE-BALANCING CHANGES
As you may know, when we developed Gremlins, Inc. in 2013-2015, we put little thought into tools and architecture that would allow us to quickly mod the game. Later, we were busy adding major features and game content. And only this year we finally put serious thought and effort into making the game really moddable. The first part of the moddability project is done by now: our own team is able to quickly modify every card in the deck, in addition to the composition of the deck itself. This finally (finally!) allows us to listen to the community feedback and quickly implement changes that make the most sense every month, together with the change of the ranked session rules. We start with re-balancing of 17 cards. The changes are described below in detail. These changes are based on the data of how the cards are used in the game across more than 60,000 recent sessions, as well as on the community feedback and discussions on the game's forums and its Discord server. We would also like to express our gratitude to our Pillars of Community players, whose feedback and recommendations were extremely helpful during the process of re-balancing.
Election Campaign
Reason: we want to weaken the impact of this card and to make it more useful for movement. At the same time, the card is now cheaper.
Riskomatic-30
Reason: we want to make this card a bit more effective, since in its current state it doesn't see as much play as we would like it to have.
Contraband
Reason: we want to make moving with this card less punishing. The card, while very useful in some circumstances, has a very situational effect. In its current state it often becomes a burden that players have no reason to play, but also don't want to use to move because of the cost. We'd like to change that.
Coup d'etat
Reason: to reduce the number of situations where this card is played completely unexpectedly. Considering how impactful this card is, it shouldn't happen for free, and completely "out of the blue".
Judgement Day
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card. Without the extra turn, it still produces a significant outcome.
Undercutting the Competition
Reason: we want to make the card a bit more punishing for those who play it, as it currently gets a lot of play despite its criminal status and a relatively high cost of 3 votes.
An Artifact
Reason: we want to adjust the deck that grew much bigger with all the recent updates, and at this point contains many more cards that can be played at the Plant during one session.
A Bag of Money
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card as it gets a lot of play. As more cards have been added to the game that give additional votes, this card can take a little nerf that would make it less popular.
Jurors for hire
Reason: we want to make this card more efficient as it isn't played as often as we'd like it to be played.
Robbery!
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card, which is currently so high that players almost always keep it on hand in order to get the money despite its criminal status. Initially, we wanted to reduce the outcome of the card by $100 but after receiving players' feedback we decided to start with $50 instead.
The Evil Statue
Reason: we want to make this card more attractive for being used to move. Initially it was done through its movement buff but after additional consideration the card was changed in a different way.
Misappropriation
Reason: we want to reduce the impact of this card, and to slightly increase the punishment for playing it for action because in its current state this is one of the most played cards in the game.
Toxic Waste
Reason: we want to make it easier for players to get rid of this card from their hand, so this would happen more often and the card wouldn't be kept on hand until played for action.
Diablerie
Reason: we want to make it easier for players to get rid of this card from their hand, so this would happen more often and the card wouldn't be kept on hand until played for action.
A Prank
Reason: we want to to reduce the impact of this card, which is so strong already that even the complete removal of the bonus probably won't change its popularity too much. But we decided to start with the reduction of the bonus first, and to see if a further nerf is needed.
A Quest from Dariol
Reason: we want to make this card a bit more popular, and have it played more often.
The Common Fund
Reason: we want to give this card a slightly negative effect to compensate for the fact that the player also receives a free score point.
OTHER CHANGES
Only the owners of the game can now join ranked/tournament sessions
Before: Ranked sessions are open to everyone for as long as they can launch the game and don't have a ban for a Fair Play Rules violation. After: In order to participate in ranked sessions, you also have to own the game on your own Steam account. Reason: free access to the game during free weekends or with the Steam Family Sharing feature is nice, but there are major downsides to it: 1) some of these players don't have any reason to care about the result of a session and often leave it early or purposefully ruin it for the opponents. While we allow the freedom of behaviour in ranked sessions, it doesn't mean that we don't want to reduce the number of such cases. And those who care about the result, often do so for a wrong reason, which brings the second downside; 2) free access can be easily exploited in pursuit of dishonest goals. Players who are banned from the ranked mode for the violation of Fair Play Rules can create a new account and be back in ranked sessions literally in minutes, which doesn't help improving other players' experience at all. This also opens up a lot of possibilities for team play where the same two players use multiple accounts to avoid restrictions of matchmaking. Therefore, we made the decision to limit what is available to the users who don't own the game. They are more than welcome to play against bots or play custom sessions with anyone they want no limits applied there.
Standard dice-roller changes
Before: when you roll a die with the standard dice-roller, the final number can be predicted by the look at the initial value, and the lever animation is quite jerky. After: the final number won't be known until the dice-roller stops, and the lever animation is now smoother than before. Reason: both changes are made with regard to the feedback that we have received after the Spring update.
Illustrations adjustments
Before: the contrast, brightness, and saturation of some of the cards were not in line with the others. After: the contrast, brightness, and saturation of all cards are brought to the same level. Reason: after years of development and adding multiple new cards with new and unique illustrations, we have noticed that their coloring became less consistent. It wasn't awful but it was noticeable enough for us to decide that it is time to give all cards an overhaul in order to reduce the inconsistency.
FIXES
- Fixed an issue: if the special rule A Box of Secrets is used during a session with bots, some cards would disappear from the deck in the course of the session. This was an absolutely bizarre issue that existed for a very long time and was discovered only recently, but now it's not the case anymore.
- Fixed a rare issue: if a player experiences heavy lags, it is possible that for the opponents their movement on the board would appear chaotic and absolutely impossible. This happened due to sync issues caused by lags and delays between the player's client and the server, and is now fixed.
- Fixed an issue: If the last Jail event was declined, the timer stays on the screen until it ends or until the next turn of that player begins. It's not the case anymore and the timer will disappear as soon as the action is completed.
[ 2020-06-24 11:06:43 CET ] [ Original post ]
Gremlins, Inc.
Alexey Bokulev
Developer
Yukitama Creative Industries
Publisher
2016-03-10
Release
Game News Posts:
352
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
Very Positive
(6107 reviews)
The Game includes VR Support
Public Linux Depots:
- Gremlins_Linux [957.92 M]
Available DLCs:
- Gremlins, Inc. – Uninvited Guests
- Gremlins, Inc. – Digital Artbook
- Gremlins, Inc. – Automated Competitors
- Gremlins, Inc. – Astral Gamblers
- Gremlins, Inc. – Famous Figures
- Gremlins, Inc. – Print & Play, Companion Card Game
- Gremlins, Inc. – Agents of Chaos
This is an intense strategy board game in a steampunk world of corrupt capitalist gremlins who compete for money, political power and prestige. Save and invest, steal and extort, arrest and get arrested – in single-player and multiplayer modes, with ranks and ladders. Unleash your inner gremlin!
HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS GAME?
Gremlins, Inc. is designed for 2 to 6 players, in multiplayer or in single-player mode (with AI bots). Each player has 6 cards on their hand (replenished from the same deck), and uses them to move around the playing field and to perform a number of different game actions. There is a lot of interaction with other players, and duels are significantly different from 3-player or 4-player games. You play for score limit, or rounds, or for time limit in custom or ranked sessions (with matchmaking by rating). Password-protected private sessions are also available.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PLAY ONE SESSION?
The game offers different session settings to make them fit your available time, and single-player mode offers automatic Save/Load function at every turn so that you can take a break whenever you want (multiplayer mode offers re-connect functionality as long as the session is still in progress). A quick duel for 20 score points with a fast timer can finish in under 20 minutes, while a 4-player session for 60 rounds can last for 2 hours or more.
SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM STRATEGIES?
There are different types of cards in the game (permanent, regular, secret and criminal) and as each card can be used either to move or for action, you will develop both short-term and long-term strategies for making the most out of where you are, and what you have in your hand. Normally you spend half of your game time accumulating things, and another half controlling other players (stealing, arresting, making them pay a fine, initiating player conflicts, and so on). The more you play, the more new strategies you will discover, especially when combining the effects of several cards played in a row.
MAKE DECISIONS, PLAN YOUR MOVES
- This is an intense strategy game: make decisions at every round! Plan your moves, then adjust to the actions of the other players and new cards drawn.
- The design of the playing field and the layers of optional features allow for a variety of strategies. The more you play, the more roads to victory you discover, using a combination of features based on the particular setup of the session.
- The game offers a resource system that allows for many comebacks even after you're robbed or arrested (or both). With score, money, votes, malice, income and bribes, the tension remains until the very last round.
- In this game, you have to be mean to win: not letting the others to score is as important as scoring yourself. The only true moment of unity in a multiplayer session is when everybody's united against the player who's about to win the game. Earn and steal resources, set traps, arrest, initiate Player Conflicts, bluff and climb up the political ladder to become the Governor.
- The multilayer mode of the game features a system of ratings, ladders and ranked sessions: compete in a specific league, and take part in the regularly organised tournaments (normally, over 1,000 players participate). A system of anonymous masks allows everyone to compete on equal terms in a ranked session, so that you can't really disregard someone as a newbie player, or target a veteran as your prime suspect in a political race.
- In addition to the multilayer mode, the game offers 9 single-player challenges plus the option to create custom single-player sessions with different AI bots (with each major update, we keep adding new challenges).
FACTS & FIGURES
- The game currently features 169 cards in the main deck: permanent, regular, secret and criminal, each with a hand-drawn steampunk illustration (with each major update, we keep adding 1-2 new cards to the core deck).
- The game also features 34 telegrams of Misfortune in the Misfortune deck: send and receive events that may disrupt another player's plans, or significantly improve your own standing (with each major update, we keep adding 1-2 new cards to the Misfortune deck).
- Chaos Cards: an optional set of 6 cards available to every player in the game, that changes the dynamics of the session.
- Special Character Abilities: an optional feature that enables 12 sets of abilities unique to each character type, which then defines the core strategy of every player.
- There are 11 locations – the Office, the Plant, the Dump, the Marketplace, the Inferno, the Jail, the Casino, the Court, the Treasure, the Bank and the Astral Plane – and 7 spot types – Danger, Gamble, Police, Income, Bribe, Misfortune and Tribune.
- The game took us three years to develop from concept to Early Access and to full release, and we're committed to the continued support of the community and development of new features and new content. It is the brainchild of Alexey Bokulev, the acclaimed creator of Eador.Genesis. There are currently over 35,000 players of Gremlins, Inc. on Steam from all over the world, including USA, Russia, China, Japan, UK and France. Collectively, players launched over 400,000 single-player and multiplayer sessions since the game's full release in March 2016.
FINALLY, WHO ARE THE GREMLINS?
You think that’s just a pocket watch in your hand, a watch that’s a bit late because you keep forgetting to wind it up? No, no and no – you couldn’t be further from the truth! What you carry around is a whole gremlin town packed into this tiny mechanism: a town with its own bank, its own casino… and even its own jail! Gremlins are the microscopic creatures that inhabit any mechanism that they can possibly infiltrate. If a watch or a telescope malfunctions, then it’s probably due to gremlins who took up a residence there.
More than anything in life, gremlins value money, political power and prestige: prestige that one can claim after completing some sort of a grandiose engineering project. Aside from working on their own projects, gremlins mostly spend their time preventing other gremlins from building something even more grandiose. This they achieve through bribing officials and lying to the electorate, as well through stealing from their competitors - and outright arresting them.
A DISCLAIMER (JUST IN CASE)
We felt it important to note that Gremlins, Inc. is not a free-to-play game. Also, this is not a CCG or TCG: you do not need to buy boosters or packs, in every session the game offers the same deck to every player, and everyone's chances are equal.
OUR DLC POLICY
We remain committed to the principle of continuously updating the game with new features (e.g. special character abilities) and new content (e.g. new cards, new Misfortunes) that come in the form of regular updates that are FREE for every owner of the product. At the same time, from time to time we create and release fun stuff (animations, character portraits, alternative music themes) that is not related to the game mechanics, as paid DLCs. If you like it, you can support our efforts by your purchase. However, there is absolutely no pressure to own any of the DLCs in order to play the game or compete in the tournaments.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ONLINE CONNECTION
Gremlins, Inc. was designed as a digital board game with the multiplayer mode at its heart. This is not to say that we don't like single-player – we do, and there's a separate section with the single-player challenges as well as the mode where you can create any custom single-player session that you like. However, the architecture of the game is built in a way that allows us to continually update the game mechanics and AI logic, which for this reason is processed entirely on the server side. Therefore whether you play Gremlins, Inc. in a single-player mode or in a multiplayer mode, your game client needs to be connected to Steam, and game's server, at all times. If you are looking specifically for a game that can be played offline, then Gremlins, Inc. in the current state is not the right product for you. An offline-only version of the game is currently in development for release later in 2016.
AMSTERDAM AND SINGAPORE SERVERS
The game currently supports 2 separate servers: Amsterdam and Singapore. Players are able to check their ping value for each of these servers, and play on the server that is the most convenient. Each server has its own player ladder, statistics and player profiles. Most players choose Amsterdam, since ping to Amsterdam from anywhere in the world rarely exceeds 300. However, as we saw more and more players from the Asian region join the game, especially from China, we added the server in Singapore in order to be able to offer faster connection specifically to these players. We hope that this works well for every player, as good player experience is our top priority. We will continue to monitor the quality of our server/client connection in order to adapt the servers to the changing requirements and we thank you for your patience.
MINIMAL SETUP
- OS: Ubuntu 12.04
- Processor: Intel PentiumMemory: 2 GB RAM
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: internalNetwork: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- OS: Ubuntu 12.04+
- Processor: Intel Pentium 3+ generationMemory: 4 GB RAM
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Geforce 9XX or AMDNetwork: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 1 GB available space
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