Hi friends. Recently, we got lucky with great sales in :china: China and, after celebrating with tea from Yunnan, we decided to say "thank you" by releasing this update (we also have a new game to show to you! it has a battle system like a digital board game, with multiple calculations each round, made seamlessly read on for more details!). Now, speaking of sales of Gremlins, Inc.:
:magic_sparkles: top 5 countries by copies sold, Q4 2024: China, Russia, USA, Japan, Ukraine steampunk top 5 countries by revenue, Q4 2024: China, USA, Russia, Japan, Ukraine It is only fitting, that this update is brought to you by a mixed dev team that's based in Japan (community & design), Russia (engineer), Ukraine (artist) and Lithuania (producer). Not to forget our translators who are based in Netherlands, Korea, China, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and France. As you can see... gremlins are everywhere !! malice (as one gremlin famously wrote, "[strike]Workers[/strike] Gremlins of the world, unite!") Anyways, let's celebrate this update together, and thanks one more time to the Chinese players (and our partners at HeyBox) for giving us the positive motivation to come through with this update.

3 NEW CARDS

Today we add not 1, not 2, not 4, but 3 new cards how about that!

Heavenly Duties

[table] [tr] [th]Location[/th] [td]The Astral Plane[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Cost[/th] [td]FREE[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Move points[/th] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Type[/th] [td]Criminal[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Get[/th] [td]malice4[/td] [/tr] [/table] Special Rule: The player of your choice gives you $200, score2 or votes5. You make the choice. [quote] "Devils who moved to the Astral Plane due to a zoning project in the Inferno, did not change their tricks but changed the terminology. What was known as "racket and extortion" in the Inferno is now called "protective tariffs and duties" on the Astral Plane." [/quote] This card may remind you of A Deal with the Devil and Devil's Due. The idea for this card came from one of the players, Paul. Thank you, Paul!

Brand Recognition

[table] [tr] [th]Location[/th] [td]The Office[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Cost[/th] [td]$150[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Move points[/th] [td]6[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Type[/th] [td]Secret[/td] [/tr] [/table] Special Rule: For each occasion where you have the highest $, score, votes, malice, income or bribes, you get score1 and your income increases by 3. [quote] "Whether you are the Chief Bastard or the Person of the Year, in the Clockwork Town the power of recognition is equally rewarding." [/quote] The main feature of this card is that you can benefit from high malice as well as from high bribe value, which are usually only disadvantageous. However, you have to be "number one" have the highest value among all players.

Hypnosis

[table] [tr] [th]Location[/th] [td]The Inferno[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Cost[/th] [td]$250[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Move points[/th] [td]4[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Type[/th] [td]Regular[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Get[/th] [td]score2, malice1[/td] [/tr] [/table] Special Rule: A player of your choice skips turn(s): 1. You can play another card in this location in this turn. [quote] "Gremlins are immune to hypnosis, but would freeze when shown something small and shiny on the chance that it's a coin." [/quote] This card is the only card that has the effect of playing another card and receiving some score points at the same time. Therefore, it has the same cost as "The Decelerator", but it provides 2 less score points. However, the effect of being able to play another card is a big advantage in the Inferno, where you have many powerful cards. Especially at the end of the session, when it can help you to secure the victory at once, combined with the effect of obstructing your opponents.

BALANCING

Is it balancing, or is it re-balancing? And does a rage-quitting player make a sound, if only the AI bot can hear them? Yes, philosophy and games development go hand in hand...

The Politician's Abilities

The Astral Plane Club [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]When resting in the Astral Plane, get 10 cards to choose from and lose malice3.[/td] [td]When you have votes7 or more, you can move to the Astral Plane straight from the Bank.[/td] [/tr] [/table] Breathing Tax [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]While you are the Governor, bribe of every player increases by 5.[/td] [td](this ability is removed)[/td] [/tr] [/table] These changes should increase the win rate of the Politician character. When you play as the Politician, the timing of getting votes may be more important from now on.

Order of Characters

[table] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Engineer[/td] [td]Engineer[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Politician[/td] [td]Politician[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Manager[/td] [td]Manager[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Pauper :orange_box:[/td] [td]Collector :the_red_box:[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Gambler[/td] [td]Gambler[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Damned[/td] [td]Damned[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Banker[/td] [td]Banker[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Thief :locked:[/td] [td]Merchant :the_green_box:[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Secret Agent[/td] [td]Secret Agent[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Merchant :the_green_box:[/td] [td]Thief :locked:[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Prosecutor[/td] [td]Prosecutor[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Collector :the_red_box:[/td] [td]Pauper :orange_box:[/td] [/tr] [/table] It has been confirmed that in sessions of 4 or more players, the character that is late in the order, has a bit of an advantage; this change balances that.

Action Cards

cards Full-House [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Cost: FREE[/td] [td]Cost: $50[/td] [/tr] [/table] cards Personal Search [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Look at the cards of any player of your choice. Swap 1 of their card(s) with the same number of cards from your hand. The player pays you $100 for each secret or criminal card discovered. [/td] [td]Look at the cards of any player of your choice. The player pays you $100 for each secret or criminal card discovered. [/td] [/tr] [/table] cards Expensive Order [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Choose any player (including you). That player gets score1 and chooses to pay for it (-$150, -malice2) or steal it (+malice5). [/td] [td]Choose any player (including you) who must pay $150. That player gets score1, loses malice3. If they cannot pay, they get malice3 instead. [/td] [/tr] [/table] cards Honorary Escort [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Cost: $150[/td] [td]Cost: $100[/td] [/tr] [/table] cards Dice-roller [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Cost: $50[/td] [td]Cost: $20[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Roll the dice. Get $100 for each card in your hand that has the same number of move points as the number on the dice.[/td] [td]Roll the dice. Get $50 for each card in your hand that has the same number of move points as the number on the dice.[/td] [/tr] [/table]

Deck

Change in the number of copies of cards in the deck [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Card[/th] [th]Previously[/th] [th]Now[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]cards Personal Search[/td] [td]1[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]cards An Inspection[/td] [td]3[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [/table] Thanks to all Pillars of Community for their input on new cards, characters and balancing. You guys are amazing!

OTHER CHANGES

• Fixed several card descriptions (where rules were not clear enough).
• Fixed a problem where card updates were not reflected in several single-player challenges.
• Fixed several other bugs.
• Increased sales in China.
• Ordered more Japanese and Chinese teas for the office.

LUNAR NEW YEAR TOURNAMENT

Gremlins, Inc. had a Lunar New Year Tournament has every year, but this year we plan to make it more luxurious (more prizes, including enamel pins shipped to winners!) and on a larger scale (whole week!). [table equalcells=1] [tr] [th]Tournament starts[/th] [th]Tournament ends[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]January 27, 2025 12:00 GMT[/td] [td]February 3, 2025 12:00 GMT[/td] [/tr] [/table]
European and Asian servers will, as usual, offer different rules. We will release full details closer to the start of the tournament.

OUR NEW GAME

We have developed Gremlins, Inc. during 2013-2016, and continued to create additional content in 2017-2018. The years of 2019-2022 are kind of blurry, because we spent them on Spire of Sorcery, a game that experienced several changes in design and direction and cost us dearly in mental health and budget. But what doesn't kill us, [strike]comes back and tries to kill us again[/strike] makes us stronger in 2022, we've met Nikita Kulaga, the game designer behind the wildly successful Graveyard Keeper, and started to collaborate on a new game, which is now known as Sister of a Dragon.
We're happy to report that the Steam store page of our new game is now open: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2694810/Sister_of_a_Dragon/ In a nutshell, this is a turn-based tactics built around a hex-based matrix with passive and active tokens, which belong to one of 8 schools, and can transform and change levels. If this sounds similar to the multi-layered mechanics of Gremlins, Inc. you're right on spot! With Sister of a Dragon, we develop another game where multiple systems combine for a special kind of gameplay.

We already started to publish developer diaries there, covering both the story, and the mechanics of the gameplay. In 2025, we aim to release the demo that showcases the game. We hope that you will like it! (and if not, no problems at all: we are masters of issuing permanent bans on complainers!). On a serious note, though, we already play our new game every day, and we love the flexibility of the battle system. What's left is polishing and tying all the loose ends (a massive job that everybody hates, but which must be done). Come say "Hi", we promise to be nice. [Team CO]

[ 2025-01-20 14:56:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

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.