Gnomes

Gnomes (2024) is a turn-based strategy game where you defend your garden from the goblin hordes. In tower-defence style, you place gnomes to defend your plants, relics and buildings. It stands out not only for the retro visuals but also for how careful town development can use crop and building synergies to gain the upper hand.

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Through a series of runs, you work to build, farm and defend your village as you push deeper into the goblin-infested territory. You pick a guild, each with a specific starter gnome, economy and magical relic. You then carefully place your gnomes to defend your crops, prepare defences and grow your economy. Each go the world expands with a simulated crop system - place spreading fertile soil to grow your territory or plant crops that spread through the map and damage enemies.

As you progress, you learn how each placement is crucial to take advantage not only of their growth to adjacent tiles but to take advantage of synergies. Do well, and you earn enough gold to purchase upgrades and create strategic combinations. Each run you gain more access to maps and guilds, each with unique gameplay and challenges.

The result is a tower defence that requires both long-term and short-term strategy. Every run is different not only because of the procedural challenge but for how many ways there are for each of the guilds to tackle it.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Gnomes 7 days ago. It was re-examined by Ellen Robertson and updated 4 days ago.