Recently released indie title Gnomes from Australian two-man studio DYSTOPIAN has sold over 40,000 copies and has reached over 1000 reviews with a score of 97% OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE. The development duo have followed up their debut success with a free content update and translations to over 13 new languages with a newly announced regional partnership with Asian gaming giant Gamersky.
"We knew straight away from the first playtest that there was something special about Gnomes," says Creative Lead Tommy McKay. "What we didn't expect was how quickly the community would rally around Gnomes. We're starting to feel more like cult leaders than game developers. It's not just the overwhelmingly positive reviews or unexpected sales, it's what they're saying about the game that is really special for us."
In Gnomes, players expand their village, plant crops and use garden gnomes to protect against the ever-increasing threat of the goblin horde. Gnomes is a deceptively deep blend of tower defense, roguelite, and turn-based strategy all wrapped up in a retro aesthetic. Grow crops for gold coins, place buildings, and position gnomes across 8 procedurally generated, grid-based biomes that each enable limitless potential synergies and outcomes.
"I grew up making maps in Warcraft 3. Many ideas from there have gone on to be influential," says Technical Lead Pat B. "There was a great map called Custom Castle Defense where the balance of economy and tower building inspired Gnomes. There was also a tower defense subgenre where you built the maze yourself, which we've incorporated into our gameplay."
Every day the map expands to reveal more territory, resources, and threats. During their turn, players can reposition their garden gnomes freely, purchase new buildings, crops, items, and gnomes at the shop, bolstering their defenses to survive the next wave.
"I really love difficult turn-based games and have been desensitized by notoriously brutal games like Battle Brothers and Stoneshard," says McKay. "I'm only interested in making games that I would want to play myself, so Gnomes had to be a deep, tactical game with RNG that tests your sanity, but gives a satisfaction that can't be matched by a game that treats you fairly."
Every decision matters as the goblins become more powerful with each passing night.
Gnomes is available now on Steam, where it has a 97% Overwhelmingly Positive user review score.
Core Features:
- Turn-based tower-defense
- Shop with relics, crops and upgrades
- 12 diverse, procedurally-generated biomes
- 24 different gnome guilds to unlock
- Endless mode
- Randomized Daily Run with live Leaderboard
- Hand-pixelled artwork and bespoke soundtrack
- Only 55MB of storage required
About the DYSTOPIAN team
Based in Brisbane, Australia, Gnomes is the debut title for hyper-indie studio DYSTOPIAN. In 2023, Tommy and Patrick hit it off at a local game dev meetup and shortly after, formed their duo which is now known as DYSTOPIAN. The duo prides themselves on their agile and lightweight approach: "No budget, no problem." DYSTOPIAN has created a custom game engine using RUST and OpenGL which has been instrumental to the fast-paced development cycle. The team shares a simple philosophy - "Done is better than perfect."
Creative Lead Tommy McKay is a developer with a unique attitude towards the industry and a jack-of-all-trades skillset. Tommy is a complete creative who fills the role of artist, composer and creative lead, while also wearing the hats of producer and marketing manager. Gnomes is Tommy's sophomore release, after his first title Sea of Survivors boasted modest success for his team Nah Yeah Games.
Technical Lead Patrick Bell has a background in electrical engineering and has been passionate about game development since childhood, starting his journey creating custom Warcraft 3 maps. With an estimated 100+ personal game projects under his belt, he thrives on experimentation and innovation. Despite conventional wisdom, he also insists on using a custom Rust engine for development. Beyond his own projects, Patrick coaches aspiring game developers, sharing his deep knowledge and experience to help others bring their ideas to life. Despite his extensive background, Gnomes is Patrick's first commercial release.
For more information contact the team at:
dystopianptyltd@gmail.com
Resources
Gnomes on Steam
Gnomes Press Kit
Gnomes Discord Server
Gnomes Trailer