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.
NEW CARD: GLASNOST
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.
NEW CARD: FULL HOUSE
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).
TECH FIXES
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
FEEDBACK ON THIS UPDATE?
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!
A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OUR FRIENDS IN KYIV
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:
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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.
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We wish world peace and a better tomorrow for all of you,
// team CO