Gremlins, Inc. News

Welcome to the Halloween Tournament!

The tournament runs from October 28 12:00 GMT through November 01 12:00 GMT. While gremlins are immortal, and not really scared of any ghosts, they are still afraid of some things: debt collectors, and automatons that are out of control.

For this tournament, we suggest the following rules:

[h3]EUROPE[/h3]

ːcardsː Players: 5
ːscoreː Victory condition: 25 points
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
:magic_sparkles: Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: hidden
ːcheatdiceː Characters: from random set
:RatsClock: Timer: normal
:Location: Field: Clockwork Colony (2)

Tournament points (place/points):

1. +1000
   
2. +100
   
3. +10
   
4. +1
   
5. +1

[h3]ASIA[/h3]

ːcardsː Players: 2
ːscoreː Victory condition: 40 points
ːcursecardː Chaos Cards: allowed
:magic_sparkles: Character Abilities: allowed
ːtelegramː Impending Misfortune: hidden
ːcheatdiceː Characters: random
:RatsClock: Timer: normal
:Location: Field: Clockwork Colony (2)

Tournament points (place/points):

1. +1000
   
2. +100

[h3]TOURNAMENT RULES[/h3]

Players get tournament points for the following sessions:

• EUROPE: the first 8 sessions
  
• ASIA: the first 16 sessions

Only the results from these sessions will be eligible for awards.

[h3]PRIZES[/h3]

The following prizes will be issued to the players who occupy the following places:

1. 3x illegal box of goods, 2x contraband box of goods, Spooky trail, Champion's trail, Charlie Oscar Studio Original Mug
2. 2x illegal box of goods, 2x contraband box of goods, Spooky trail
   
3. 1x illegal box of goods, 2x contraband box of goods, Spooky trail
   
4. 1x illegal box of goods, 2x contraband box of goods
   
5. 1x illegal box of goods, 2x contraband box of goods
   
6. 2x contraband box of goods
   
7. 2x contraband box of goods
   
8. 1x contraband box of goods
   
9. 1x contraband box of goods
   
10. 1x contraband box of goods
    

Additionally:

Every player with 4 victories in a row (EUROPE) or 10 victories in a row (ASIA):

• 1x illegal box of goods

Victory in the shortest number of rounds:

• Champion's trail

Bounty hunter's award: The first player to win against the player with the best tournament points.

• 1x contraband box of goods

Secret Award A (the rule will be disclosed after the tournament):

• 1x illegal box of goods

Secret Award B (the rule will be disclosed after the tournament):

• 1x contraband box of goods

Secret Award C (the rule will be disclosed after the tournament):

• 1x contraband box of goods

Trick and Greed,
Good luck!!



[h2]TOURNAMENT RESULTS[/h2]

[h3]EUROPE[/h3]

[h3]TOP 10[/h3]

• 1st Пирожочек 5012 points
  
• 2nd 4nsZei 5003 points
  
• 3rd 有必要3星但不可以 4220 points
  
• 4th An intelligent grem 4211 points
  
• 5th managa_oleg 4201 points
  
• 6th ladykatie 4121 points
  
• 7th witness 4103 points
  
• 7th impsuley 4103 points
  
• 9th Tiaga 4011 points
  
• 10th Cielnu 4003 points

[h3]4 victories in a row[/h3]

• ladykatie 4 victories in a row

[h3]Victory in the shortest number of rounds[/h3]

• spike 16 rounds
  
• managa_oleg 16 rounds

[h3]Bounty hunter's award[/h3]

• 奶弟 hunt:Пирожочек

[h3]Secret Award A (Maximum Score Victory)[/h3]

• TinkyTwinky 34 score

[h3]Secret Award B (Lucky Award: 50th and 100th players from the top on the tournament board)[/h3]

• 50th Lord Helmchen
  
• 100th Tropicanerin

[h3]Secret Award C (Thanks for Playing Award: Lowest ranked player who completed all sessions)[/h3]

• 725th HYN20

[h3]ASIA[/h3]

[h3]TOP 10[/h3]

• 1st Night flash 15100 points
  
• 1st 糖分AwA 15100 points
  
• 3rd 玉米地里的大棒棒 13300 points
  
• 3rd 繁星月移 13300 points
  
• 3rd sati 13300 points
  
• 6th 我不想赢 12400 points
  
• 6th Atta Codipeti 12400 points
  
• 8th HunkChan 11500 points
  
• 8th xia 11500 points
  
• 8th EXEL 11500 points
  
• 8th 岁岁 11500 points
  
• 8th Kun 11500 points
  
• 8th tonberry 11500 points
  
• 8th Правда я талант? 11500 points
  
• 8th 八重黒龍.inc 11500 points
  
• 8th 跟汝岗买可乐送加多宝 11500 points

[h3]10 victories in a row[/h3]

• Night flash 12 victories in a row
  
• 帕瓦 11 victories in a row

[h3]Victory in the shortest number of rounds[/h3]

• Cheh 28 rounds

[h3]Bounty hunter's award: The first player to win against the player with the best tournament points.[/h3]

• 钓鱼王尤姆 hunt:Night flash
  
• Night flash hunt:糖分AwA

[h3]Secret Award A (Maximum Score Victory)[/h3]

• 无题. 61 score

[h3]Secret Award B (Lucky Award: 50th and 100th players from the top on the tournament board)[/h3]

• 50th 穿山甲
  
• 100th 嘿哈呼

[h3]Secret Award C (Thanks for Playing Award: Lowest ranked player who completed all sessions)[/h3]

• 110th jasonwang

* We apologize for the long time it took many players to get matched. As a token of our appreciation, we have distributed one Tournament Chest and one Autumn Chest to all tournament participants who enjoyed the tournament even under such circumstances.

** If 2 or more players have the same record in each of tournament's special prizes, they share the same (highest) place and get the same rewards.

*** Players who violated the Fair Play Rules during the tournament were disqualified.

**** Charlie Oscar Studio mug right holders must contact Standard of Ur via discord or steam by 12:00 GMT on November 28, 2022. If we do not hear from you by then, we will assume that you have waived your rights.

Prizes will be distributed in order. We congratulate the winners and wish good luck to everyone in future events! Thank you for being such an awesome community! ːvotesː

Hey guys,

How are you all doing?



This year is not the easiest for a lot of people. In this community, we have players from over a hundred countries, and I’m sure that for each region, the problems are different.

One thing is clear, though: whether it’s the climate crisis, the pandemics, the war, the energy crisis, or some other issue – 2022 is a challenging year for nearly everyone.

We wish our community to focus on what each of us, personally, can do to improve the lives of others – while not losing our minds on the matters which remain beyond our control.

And with the same approach, today we release a small update for Gremlins, Inc.: nothing life-changing, just something to make your experience a bit better.

Feel free to start the game and check it out!

Whatever happened in 2022, our servers are still up and running, and Gremlins, Inc. is waiting for you.


[h3]NEW CARD: PRISON TOUR[/h3]



Spot: Police
Type: Normal
Move points: 5
Cost: $50

Special rule:

Teleport to the Jail (you are not arrested). Get an extra turn.

To taste the freedom, visit the prison – preferrably just on a tour.

Expected use case:

We think this card will be used in combination with other cards that can be played in the Jail. Additionally, this card can be used to move to the Jail, so that later player approaches the Inferno.


[h3]NEW CARD: EXPENSIVE ORDER[/h3]



Location: Marketplace
Type: Normal
Move points: 4
Cost: FREE

Special rule:

Choose a player (including you). That player gets ːscoreː1 and chooses between paying for it (-$150, -ːmaliceː2) and stealing it (+ːmaliceː5).

Delivery is obligatory, payment is optional.

Expected use case:

Early in the session, this card forces the other player to choose between getting ːmaliceː5 or losing $150 early on. At the end of the session, it is likely that you may play this card on yourself, simply to get ːscoreː1.


[h3]CHARACTER CHANGES: THE THIEF[/h3]

Robbery

Now:

If you lose a Player Conflict, get 75% of the amount paid by the other player.

Change:

If you lose a Player Conflict, get 100% of the amount paid by the other player.

Reason:

Thief was once nerfed because it was a very powerful character on the European server, but this change had too high of an impact. Therefore, we have returned this ability to its original state.


[h3]CHARACTER CHANGES: THE POLITICIAN[/h3]

Connections at the Parliament

Now:

Get ːvotesː2 when the Elections begin (this effect stacks with the effect of being the least malicious player).

Change:

This effect is completely removed.


The Astral Plane Club

Now:

When resting in the Astral Plane, get 5 cards to choose from and lose ːmaliceː3.

Change:

When resting in the Astral Plane, get 10 cards to choose from and lose ːmaliceː3.

Reason:

In duels, Connections at the Parliament was too powerful an ability. This is an attempt to balance the both by removing one, and making the other one more impactful.


[h3]OTHER UPDATES[/h3]

• The explanation for discarding cards in "Glasnost" has been supplemented.
  
• Fixed missing descriptions of some cards in Gremlinopedia.
  
• Fixed translations for some languages.
  

[h3]WHAT'S NEXT?[/h3]



We’d like to do a few things in the next few months:

* add a couple of new cards
* perform more of the re-balancing
* run a couple of new tournaments

Please share your suggestions in the comments below.

Which locations could benefit from having new cards?

Which effects need adjustment?

And what do you want from a tournament?

We wish you good health, world peace and a better tomorrow.


// Team CO

Dear, Gremlins.

It has been a year since Qfasa passed away due to COVID-19.

This infection that took his life still shows no signs of abating.

Some of you and your family and friends may have been infected with COVID-19 and suffered terribly.

It is so fun and wonderful to get out and share a great time with your precious friends.

On the other hand, along with that, it is also very important to stay at home to avoid the risk of exposing yourself and your loved ones to dangerous infections.

We have a little bonus this month for those of you who stay home and play Gremlins, Inc. in memory of Qfasa.

[h3]BONUS[/h3]

• A Rare Box of Goods x 1
  
• Summer Chest x 3
  

[h3]Conditions for earning the bonus[/h3]

• Play and complete at least 10 sessions during this July. Any type of session is acceptable. This bonus is awarded independently for each of the EU and ASIA servers, but at the same time, the Conditions for earning the bonus are also counted independently.
  

This summer has also been extremely hot.

Please take good care of yourself by paying attention to COVID-19 and heat stroke.

[Team CO]

Dear friends,

In February we decided to bring back the monthly updates of Gremlins, Inc. as there's always things we work on, and changes in balance that we'd like to try, and shipping regular updates is very helpful to deploy all of these things at once.

Since we in parallel develop ːspellcastingː Spire of Sorcery, the idea was to ship Spire of Sorcery's updates at the end of each month, and the updates for ːsteampunkː Gremlins, Inc. in the middle of each month. Well, so much for the domino effect: just last week we shipped such a massive update for Spire of Sorcery (our biggest yet, adding hours of gameplay) that we only now were able to re-group and update Gremlins, Inc.



This doesn't mean that we will abandon the "monthly update" ambition. We will keep trying! This is just to explain why certain things happen later than we would have wanted them to happen. ːweatherː

On a similar topic, and before we cover the new cards, here's the update for Gremlins, Inc. 2: after discussing the project with nearly 20 possible partners, we are now down to 2 whom we like the most. The journey has been quite interesting, as we are looking not just to rise the production budget but to align our long-term vision for the game, and this is the most important part of the discussion.

We will keep you posted on the decision when we make it!

And now about today's update: the main focus of this update is the introduction of two new cards.

[h3]NEW CARD: GLASNOST[/h3]

Location: Courthouse
Type: Normal
Move points: 1

Cost: $50
Get: ːvotesː1, -ːmaliceː1

Special rule:

An opponent of your choice reveals any number of cards in their hand. That player gets ːmaliceː1 and gives you ːvotesː1 for each card in their hand that were not revealed.



“It’s true that the poor have the right to know about the actions of the rich. It is also true that the rich have the right to make that right to know as difficult to exercise as possible.”

Expected use case:

Use this card to reveal the hand of the leader. Harass your electoral rivals when you want to become the governor. Plot to steal votes from players who have not revealed their cards for a long time.


[h3]NEW CARD: FULL HOUSE[/h3]

Location: Casino
Type: Secret
Move points: 1

Cost: Free

Special rule:

Show your hand. You are not arrested even if you have criminal cards (they are, however, discarded). Get $100 if any 2 cards have the same number of move points. For each additional card with the same number of move points as the pair, get additional $100.



“Even small things can have a big effect when they accumulate, whether it's the cards or the fools.“

To get the most of this card, player will need to align the move points of their cards. It may be a good time to show your skills. But be careful: this is a secret card. We think that this card will be more useful on playing field 2 (Colony) than on playing field 1 (Town).


[h3]TECH FIXES[/h3]

Many thanks to every player who submitted bug reports here on Steam forums and on the Discord server! This helps a lot with identifying and fixing the technical issues. What we achieved with today's update:

• The changes from the February update are now applied to the single-player mode; originally, they did not affect that mode, and we apologise for the inconvenience.
  
• The issues with season chests are now fixed; it took some time to identify the issue, and here the reports from players were very helpful;
  
• A few mistakes in various localisations got fixed; some of them were on the radar for months, but we forgot about them ;-P
  

[h3]FEEDBACK ON THIS UPDATE?[/h3]

Before we move to the last part of this update, which is the Q&A with the concept artist and game designer, we'd like to ask about your opinion about the changes that happened with the previous update, a bit over a month ago.

All the cards have been in the deck for ranked sessions on Asian server – how is your playing experience? Better, worse, the same? We would love to get your feedback!


[h3]A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OUR FRIENDS IN KYIV[/h3]

As you may recall from the last announcement (which stirred up quite some anger from the blood-thirsty crowd, to the point where Valve activated the review-bombing protection for the game – a first for us!), right now the original game designer of Gremlins, Inc. (Adrageron) as well as the game's concept artist (Yaroslav) are both in Kyiv.

We asked them to answer three questions, to help us understand what it means to live in a city that is attacked by bombs and missiles every day for the last month:

–––

ːnotebookː Is the Russian army really attacking Kyiv?

Alexey "Adrageron" Bokulev –

Yes, every day we have bombs or missiles hitting the city. Even though this is nothing compared to what happens in Kharkiv and Chernihiv.

Yaroslav Pavlyshynets –

All this time the Russian army is bombarding Kyiv, with quite a lot of attacks happening from the north – from the territory of Belarus, or around the border.

ːnotebookː Do such attacks kill civilians, regular citizens?

Alexey "Adrageron" Bokulev –

Yes. I follow several journalists here on the ground in Kyiv, who broadcast real-time, and they report from the sites of attacks. This often includes casualties among the by-standers, people who just happened to be nearby when the missile hit the particular building.

Yaroslav Pavlyshynets – 

Naturally. Houses are destroyed, and civilians are dying. The Ukrainian air defence is trying hard to protect the city, we hear air sirens several times each day. A lot of missiles are intercepted by the defence but even in such cases, they fall on the city, causing destruction and, sometimes, starting fires. And in addition to pieces of missiles, we also had downed Russian military planes falling into the populated areas around Kyiv.

ːnotebookː Does it help that we discuss and protest against the war here on Steam – despite the fact that it's a games platform?

Alexey "Adrageron" Bokulev –

It provides moral support, I think. And it informs people. The more people know about the horror that happens at this very moment in the middle of Europe, the more pressure there is on the governments of the countries where those in power at least somewhat care about the opinions of their citizens.

Yaroslav Pavlyshynets –

Any support matters A LOT to us these days, including here on Steam. Because the local community is really huge. Many artists, sportsmen, scientists and regular people all over the world express their empathy for our pain and call for peace, and it gives us the power to hold on, to resist and to continue our fight. We know that we are on the side of the civilised world, resisting the cruel barbarian state. I'm certain that despite the Russian army being many times larger than ours, we will defeat them, since we fight for our freedom, we protect our homes.

–––

We wish world peace and a better tomorrow for all of you,

// team CO

12 days ago, Russian army invaded Ukraine and every day since then is killing its people and destroying its infrastructure. Our friends in the Ukrainian games studios are now forced to defend their homeland, while their parents and children are fleeing the war as refugees.

Some of you may know that Gremlins, Inc. was born during in 2013 and 2014 while we prototyped and experimented in Kyiv, Moscow and Stockholm. The streets that we walked while discussing the game are now being bombed by Russian artillery. The game designer who invented the game's concept is sheltering in Kyiv, with the air raid sirens sounding in the city. The artist who created all of the game's card art changed his pencil for a rifle, joining the territorial defence.

This is the time of grief. So much pain and destruction is being inflicted. We are a small team, and we are doing what we can, helping the vulnerable friends as much as we can... while we watch Russia killing and maiming innocent people. Sadly, these thousands of dead are just the beginning of the humanitarian catastrophe as many more will die of disease or lack of medicine and care in the coming weeks.

At the same time, those in our team who are based in Russia face another war: the war of the Russian police on Russia's own population. Call the war a war, ask for peace – and get beaten up, arrested and tortured, facing up to 15 years in jail. The thugs paid by the state brutalise peaceful citizens to keep them silent.

While our hearts break for the victims of the war, whether bombed or arrested, we will do our best to continue developing and operating our games. This is not the only conflict that is happening in the world right now, it's just that it affects us in a very direct and personal way.

With all of our hearts, we wish this war to stop. We will do our best to support our friends who suffer from this war in Ukraine, as well as our friends in Russia who protest against this war. These are difficult times. Let's please be kind and helpful to each other, as much as we can.