Gremlins, Inc. News

[h3]What is Spire of Sorcery?[/h3]

Spire of Sorcery as a turn-based party RPG where you rely on spellcasting, alchemy, and a bit of equipment to explore the original world of Rund – engaging with the realms of life, death, and chaos to help the sentient citadel mend the broken world.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h3]Who created Spire of Sorcery?[/h3]

Spire of Sorcery is created by Charlie Oscar. This is our indie team’s second big release. Earlier, we shipped the native digital board game Gremlins, Inc. (and in a few months, we will also ship a new card game set in the same universe). Working together for the last seven years, we aim to create original games that reward players with new experiences!


[h3]Why Early Access?[/h3]

The game is already big enough, and deep enough, to offer 4 to 8 hours of gameplay with many ways of replaying it. We’re eager to present the game to the wider audience because our development process is based on feedback and iterations. Quite a lot of the game’s most fun features were born during community discussions!


[h3]What’s great about Spire of Sorcery?[/h3]

Everything – except for the tutorial, which is far from perfect!! :-P

• Cast spells, including combos, to affect opponents and trigger environmental effects
  
• Concoct alchemic substances that range from curative to explosive
  
• Combine alchemy, spells and equipment to prevail in encounters
  
• Explore the original world of Rund to discover new resources and new recipes
  
• Taste any resource that you find, to modify the looks of your party
  
• Collect and grow food resources, and cook food that may taste great (or horrible)
  
• Manage your party, considering mood and traits of its members
  
• Find new party members and improve their stats up to their true potential
  
• Expand your base at the Spire with new rooms that offer new mechanics
  
• Break into ancient barrows, dispel cursed weepers and battle infection-ridden gigglers
  
• Resolve mini-stories that pose moral choices, affecting your party’s mood
  

The above is what’s already in the game by now, and we’ve got a lot more in the works!

[h3]What’s in the current version?[/h3]

The game releases with 3 chapters that detail the escape of the mages from the Inquisition, their encounter with the terrifying Broodmother and their first contact with the mysterious tribe of Mushroom-eaters. As to the world, we’ve got seasoned gigglers and rageful shadows, spitting demons and fearful blackpaws, mad weavers and cursed weepers, spike-shooting tree crawlers and mysterious mushroom-eaters who populate barrows, haunts and villages across the plains, wetlands, forests, ruins and elderwood.

[h3]How will the game be updated?[/h3]

More content is coming, and a plenty of new mechanics is in development for the next updates!

We update the game every month with quality-of-life improvements, and once every two months with new chapters and new mechanics. In this way, you’ll regularly have new challenges to try and mechanics to sample – all the way towards the full release.

Campfires, travel magic, crafting, personal relationships – it’s all on the roadmap (Roadmap), as well as new creatures, new regions and new mechanics.

[h3]How long will the game remain in Early Access?[/h3]

We’re looking to reach version 1.0 before the end of 2022.

We're hell-bent on shipping new content and new mechanics as fast as we can, thanks to your support, and improving the balance and the interface – based on your feedback.

[h3]What if I own Gremlins, Inc.?[/h3]

We’ve created a thank-you bundle that gives you a bit of a discount:

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/23112/Sorcery_Inc/

[h3]Thanks for the support![/h3]

Making original games is not easy. We express our thanks to everyone who supported our team during the development of Spire of Sorcery. Every positive comment made a difference! Every word of support made it easier for us to make it through the development sprints!

ːhypnoheartːːhypnoheartːːhypnoheartː THANK YOU!! ːhypnoheartːːhypnoheartːːhypnoheartː

Our team is committed to creating original games that combine all sorts of mechanics, and we hope to bring you lots of fun with Spire of Sorcery as you will see it evolve and grow during the Early Access period. This is impossible without the support of the community, the commitment of the independent professionals who contributed their work to make this game happen, and without the open eco-system of Steam that allows us to work independently, focusing on the quality of the game above all else.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/637050/Spire_of_Sorcery/

If you support our vision, please purchase Spire of Sorcery.

Or if it’s too early for you, then you can wishlist it to follow the game’s progress.

See you in Rund!

Team Charlie Oscar
Vilnius, Lithuania

[h3]ːHoly_Grailetː 13.08 12:00 PM GMT – 16.08 12:00 PM GMT ːHoly_Grailetː [/h3]

We're trying something new this time.

The rules are the same for both Asian and European servers:

ːcardsː Players: 4
ːscoreː Session limit: 40 rounds
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
ːhealth_powerupː Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: visible
ːcheatdiceː Characters: from random set
ːRatsClockː Timer: normal
ːLocationː Field: Clockwork Colony (2nd)

[h3]RULES[/h3]

There is no limit on the number of sessions that a player can play during this tournament. To win this tournament, you need to win 3 tournament sessions. There will be multiple winners and each will receive the corresponding prizes.

During this tournament, regular rating points will be frozen for all the players. Your tournament sessions will not affect your regular rating.

[h3]PRIZE FUND[/h3]

Every player who wins 3 tournament sessions, receives 1 Summer chest and 1 Tournament chest. There will be also special sets of prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd players on each server in the following categories: most sessions won; most sessions won in a row; highest score at the end of tournament session; most sessions played.

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ːmaliceː Official Discord
ːmaliceː Twitter (game updates)



ːsummer_magicː Official Discord
ːsummer_magicː Twitter (game updates)

ːsteampunkː STATUS: THE UPDATE IS LIVE

ːsunnyemoː IMPORTANT: due to significant internal changes in the code, saved games made in the earlier version of the game will not be compatible with the updated version. We apologize for the inconvenience.

–––

Dear players:

Hopefully, the summer treats you with good weather, and you and your families are doing well. We, from our side, are happy to provide you with this brand new update that adds 2 new cards, a number of bug fixes and changes in balance.

We'll look at all the changes in just a second, but first, a quick shoutout to our other game – Spire of Sorcery, which participates in the Steam Next Fest event: the demo-version is already available on Steam, and supports 7 languages.

If, for some unexplainable reason, you desire something less chaotic and brutal than Gremlins, Inc., then you may consider leading a party of runaway mages in a post-cataclysmic fantasy world of Spire of Sorcery. You can download the demo on the game's Steam page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/637050/Spire_of_Sorcery/

And now, back to Gremlins, Inc. and all the goodness of the new update!


ːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsː

[h3]NEW CARD: "ID CARD OF SECRET POLICE"[/h3]

Location: The Court
Cost: $500
Move points: 3
Type: Normal, Permanent
Get: +ːscoreː6, +ːmaliceː1



Special rule:

When another player plays a secret card, they pay you $50. If they can’t pay in full, they discard all their cards.

"The lives of those who are unable to purchase protection from the secret police, can change at a moment’s notice, and in a very unpredictable way."

When this card is in play, one careless move when you are out of money might change your entire plan for future turns (for better or worse).

ːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsːːcardsː

[h3]NEW CARD: "QUICK LOAN"[/h3]

Location: The Bank
Cost: free
Move points: 3
Type: Normal, Permanent
Get: +$400



Special rule:

Pay $20 at the beginning of your every turn. If you cannot pay, lose ːscoreː3, then this card is discarded.

"For customer contracts, we use nothing but the finest print."

Be careful with this one – playing it just because you can might not be a good idea.


ːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinːːbh2coinː

[h2]CHANGES IN BALANCE[/h2]

In the course of the last few months, we experimented a lot with cards and special character abilities. With this update we implement most of these changes on a permanent basis. If you play regularly and follow our monthly updates in which we discuss adjustments in balance, all these changes and the reasons behind them will probably look familiar to you. Otherwise, feel free to take a look at how (and why) the balance has been changed.


[h3]CHANGES IN SPECIAL CHARACTER ABILITIES[/h3]

We have buffed two characters who, according to the data, were underperforming on both servers.

[h3]The Damned[/h3]



[h3]The Pauper[/h3]




[h3]CHANGES IN CARDS[/h3]

As you can see, most of the changes have a similar base: money reduction and score reduction. This is, of course, for a reason. Years of development with regular updates that bring not only new features but new cards as well, lead the game to the state that one can call "inflation". There are much more resources (money, votes) that are available in sessions than it was 2-3 years ago and that affects all aspects of gameplay.

We want to take a step back and reduce the impact of some of the cards in order to change that. In almost every case this isn't about nerfing a particular card but about reducing the overall amount of money that circulates in sessions. Reasons to change Chaos Cards are similar: an increased amount of available resources means that these cards are easier to play now than it was a few years ago. As such, we want to reduce their impact on the game just a bit (and in some cases compensate it with the reduced amount of ːmaliceː these cards gives to the player).


[h3]CHAOS CARDS[/h3]

[h3]A Sacrifice[/h3]



[h3]The Agent of Chaos[/h3]



[h3]The Army of Chaos[/h3]



[h3]A Diversion in the Astral Plane[/h3]



[h3]The Allies of Chaos[/h3]




[h2]CARDS[/h2]

[h3]Eternal Mortgage[/h3]



[h3]Racketeering![/h3]



[h3]A Fence[/h3]



[h3]Toxic Waste[/h3]



Reason: this is not just because of the reasons we already explained. This card is still one of the most playable cards in the game due to the combination of its effects. So, in this case, yes, it is a nerf of a specific card in order to reduce its effectiveness.

[h3]Prize Fund[/h3]



Reason: ːvotesː4 or -ːmaliceː4 is just too good in comparison to $100. It also has a significant impact, especially the ːmaliceː reduction. So, we decided to nerf this card a bit.

[h3]A Bag of Money[/h3]



Reason: as was noticed in the comments after the previous change of this card – no one cares how many votes it gives because no one plays it for votes. Fair enough. We made it more balanced in terms of what it gives :)

[h3]Corporate Scam[/h3]



Reason: with this card, the effect works as intended but it isn't impactful enough. Now you can get up to 4 free points out of it while simultaneously punishing those opponents who didn't join you in this scam.

[h3]Investigation[/h3]



Reason: despite increasing its cost back in October of the last year, the card still has an extremely high 'play to move' ratio (meaning, it is rarely used for movement and almost always played). While some cards will inevitably have a higher ratio than the others, we want to change it a bit more.

[h3]An Inspection[/h3]



Reason: the situation here is similar to Investigation, which is understandable – police cards are very powerful. In this case, we didn't want to nerf the card and instead made it more tempting to use it for movement.

[h3]Forbidden Knowledge[/h3]



Reason: this is rather simple: we want this card to be played more often.

[h3]Cold Deck[/h3]



Reason: after testing it for some time we do believe that ːmaliceː1 works better for this card.

[h3]FIXES[/h3]

• Gremlinopedia now correctly shows all the monthly changes for cards and characters outside of sessions.
  
• The tooltip for the Banker's ability Hedging the risk now shows at the correct spot.
  
• Added missing indicators on the board for active permanent cards The Common Fund and Corporate Scam.
  
• Indicators in the first tutorial entry are fixed and appear next to the correct elements of UI.
  
• Raging bull emote now can be converted into charges.
  
• A few more typos in different languages has been discovered and fixed.
  

We wish you all the best, and hope to have some great news about the Card Game for you in August!

Dear friends,

Today we have two news to share with you:

First of all, the playable demo of Spire of Sorcery – our upcoming party RPG with turn-based spellcasting and hex-based exploration – is available during Steam Next Fest, from June 16 onwards.



Spire of Sorcery is a very ambitious project for our studio, and those among you who follow our studio might know that its development has been anything but easy: to make it happen, we’ve pushed ourselves to the very limit. Given the development progress of the last 6 months, we’re confident that the project will be released in Early Access in the autumn of this year!

In Spire of Sorcery, you play for a party of runaway mages who try save themselves (and maybe others, if they can) in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world where magic talent is a crime.



Just as with Gremlins, Inc., with Spire of Sorcery we build upon the game’s own original setting, and we don’t rely on a single central mechanic. Instead, we mixes together multiple interconnected mechanics to create a unique experience from their combinations.

Spire of Sorcery has elements of gameplay that you might find in board games, even though it’s not a card game. Every character owns a personal adjustable deck of elements that they combine together to cast spells and deal tokens, that combine with different effects.



There is some randomness in the game – the maps are procedurally generated, as well as stats and decks – but we keep it rather low in comparison to that other game that you all know and love (or hate :P).



Of course, there are more things. For example, each character is a person with their own stats, perks, and goals. They can be improved, but they also can get sick or injured. They react differently to the surroundings and events. And since mages are the most efficient when they act in groups, it lies on the player's shoulder to decide how to mix different party members.



If this sounds interesting and you want to know more, or try the playable demo while it’s available, you can download the game here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/637050/Spire_of_Sorcery/

We would be tremendously happy to receive your feedback, comments and suggestions, as it is our main way to develop and improve our games.

Secondly, the development of our second new game currently in production, Gremlins, Inc. Card Game, is progressing nicely.

You may be familiar with the physical game that’s available as Print & Play DLC for Gremlins, Inc., and now we are turning it into a digital board game as well.

Since this is an adaptation of the existing game, the development is fast and smooth. We already have a fully playable version that we test against bots (they aren't the brightest, but they know how to play) or other players (on a dedicated server or through a direct peer-to-peer connection).

The base deck of 64 cards is also fully implemented, and sessions can be played for points or rounds where both conditions can be set at the same time, in which case the session ends when at least one of them is reached.

The main reason why we don't provide any public access to the build yet (and decided to opt-out from this Steam Next Fest with the demo) is that the game looks ugly as... well, let’s just say that it's very, very ugly – since we haven’t even started work on the interface yet.



While hardcore fans probably would be able to deal with it, we do not want to traumatise anyone else. Yes, it works! But no, it’s not ready to reveal itself to the general public yet.

However, you can already add the game to your wishlist, if you wish –

https://store.steampowered.com/app/860560/Gremlins_Inc__Card_Game/

Our current estimate is that Gremlins, Inc. – Card Game will enter Early Access on Steam in the autumn of this year. In the meantime, we'll be sharing news on how development progresses, and how the game changes (mostly it will be getting prettier and the bots become smarter). You can also join the game's dedicated Discord server.

The following rules become active on June 1, at 12:00 GMT, and will apply throughout June to all ranked sessions that are launched after that point.

ːsteampunkː EUROPE

ːcardsː players: 4
ːscoreː victory condition: 30 points
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
ːhealth_powerupː Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: hidden
ːcheatdiceː Characters: from random set
ːRatsClockː Timer: normal
ːLocationː Field: Clockwork town (1st)

* Special rules for EU server:

None.

ːsteampunkː ASIA

ːcardsː players: 2
ːscoreː victory condition: 35 points
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
ːhealth_powerupː Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: visible
ːcheatdiceː Characters: random
ːRatsClockː Timer: normal
ːLocationː Field: Clockwork town (1st)

* Special rules for Asia server:

The following cards are removed from the ranked deck on Asian server:

ːcardsː The Accelerator
ːcardsː An Award Ceremony
ːcardsː A Compromising Document
ːcardsː A Fraudulent Transaction
ːcardsː An Honest Exchange

ːsteampunkːːsteampunkːːsteampunkː

In addition to this set of rules, we also make an adjustment of just one card that we keep tinkering with because of its extreme efficiency. But this time it's actually a buff. Please keep in mind that all the previous changes are still intact.

[h2]CARDS[/h2]

[h3]Investigation[/h3]



Reason: despite the increased cost and malice the card is still played 4 times out of 5 when it hits the hand of a player. We still don't want to change its effect as it works rather well, so this time we'll make it more useful for movement to tempt you to spend it that way :)

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ːmaliceː Official Discord
ːmaliceː Twitter (game updates)



ːsummer_magicː Official Discord
ːsummer_magicː Twitter (game updates)