Info about Union of Gnomes:

Official game description:
WISHLIST OUR ANOTHER CARD BATTLER!
==================================
About the Game
==============
Behold a quirky fairy tale set in the revolutionary times of a far far away kingdom.
Embark on the challenging journey to lead the gnome’s uprising, stand against Snow White’s oppressive rule, assemble your liberation forces, and bring freedom to this land.
Free your gnome comrades to bolster your squad with the best freedom fighters. Experiment with the lineup to reveal powerful synergies and combos with 130 cards that will either hit, poison, weaken, blind your enemies, or get your gnomes drunk…
Pick one of three plucky gnome heroes with unique traits, distinctive decks, and special abilities to slay the slavers. Enhance them between game runs to perfect your build.
Take down the ferocious enemies from different fairy tales, including the Red Hood, Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio, or Snow White herself. Mind your foes' positioning and get the upper hand by using devastating effects, like destroying their spirit by showing them a tiny gnome’s butt.
In Union of Gnomes, there are…
*   3 gnome heroes, 130 cards to use in your deck, and 24 different effects to throw into your enemies or gnomes' faces.
*   19 fairy-tallish bosses to beat, and dozens of regular enemies to slay.
*   6 acts of pure revolutionary story with quirky quests and hidden stories.
*   Story mode, along with the infinite gameplay of Endless mode.
*   ONE HUGE MYSTERY TO UNCOVER!

Release date: May 29, 2025

Categories: Roguelike Deckbuilder, Card-based Combat, Turn-based Combat, Resource Management, Meta-Progression, Dark Fantasy, Single-player Story


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $8.00 - $15.00
  - Reasoning: The reviews consistently highlight that the game is enjoyable and offers good value at sale prices, with specific examples of £12 (~$15) being acceptable but not ideal, and €7 (~$8) being great value. The repeated advice to wait for a sale suggests the current full price is considered too high. The community likely views a fair base price in the $10-15 range, with $8 as an excellent deal.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 7.0h
  - Story completion: 7.0h
  - Session length: 3.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The review stating 'my 6 8 hours were enough to clear all the content' directly supports gameCompletion and storyCompletion at approximately 7 hours. The quotes 'runs last well over an hour' and 'three hours disappeared' indicate session lengths around 1-3 hours, with a typical run exceeding an hour. The '37 hours into this' shows extended playtime but not necessarily completion. No specific endgame time is provided, so endgame is null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game starts as an engaging and humorous card-based roguelike, but becomes tedious and unfun in later stages due to high-armor enemies, lack of progression, and deck-negating walls.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: N/A
  - Unlock drivers: N/A
  - Conditions: N/A
- Player Archetypes:
  - Roguelike Deckbuilder Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: Enjoying the strategic deckbuilding and roguelike progression systems.
    - Playstyle: Focuses on deck synergy, puzzle-like encounters, and iterative runs.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: Slay the Spire; Gun & Banana
  - Grind-Weary Veteran (no buy)
    - Motivation: Seeking a fair, skill-based challenge without excessive grinding or luck.
    - Playstyle: Attempts to optimize decks but is blocked by RNG and progression walls.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Cautious Sale Shopper (sale)
    - Motivation: Wanting to enjoy the game's strengths without overpaying for its current flaws.
    - Playstyle: Plays but notes issues, waits for sales or updates before fully committing.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Story & Setting Explorer (buy)
    - Motivation: Immersing in the game's story, world, and visual charm.
    - Playstyle: Casual, story-driven, explores side quests and appreciates presentation.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: N/A


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Game is fun and enjoyable (weight 0.32): Players consistently describe the game as fun, solid, and charming, with good gameplay and great value. The overall experience is highly positive and engaging.
- Roguelike mode is excellent (weight 0.12): The roguelike mode is highlighted as significantly better than the campaign, with players finding it funny and enjoyable. This mode is a standout feature of the game.
- Card strategy is interesting (weight 0.11): Players find the card game mechanics interesting, with many card combinations and strategic depth. The card-based gameplay is a key positive aspect.
- High replayability value (weight 0.11): The game is described as absolutely replayable, offering good replayability. This suggests strong long-term engagement and variety in gameplay.
- Music and sounds praised (weight 0.11): The music is described as pleasant and entertaining, with great music and sounds overall. Audio quality contributes positively to the experience.
- Dark fairy tale story (weight 0.11): The story offers an interesting spin on well-known fairy tale characters, with a dark and attractive fairy tale world. This narrative approach is well-received.
- Large card selection variety (weight 0.08): The card system offers a large selection of cards for specialized strategies, with a variety of cards and interactions. This provides depth and customization.
- Beautiful visual style (weight 0.08): The visual style is respected and described as beautiful, with visuals being particularly enjoyable. The art direction is a strong point.
- Engaging and varied gameplay (weight 0.08): The gameplay is described as engaging and varied, keeping players interested. This suggests a dynamic and compelling game experience.
- High-quality gnome designs (weight 0.08): The various gnome designs are loved, with high-quality design and animation. Character design is a standout feature.
- Snow White villain twist (weight 0.08): The fairy tale setting with Snow White as the villain is interesting, offering a unique twist. This narrative choice is intriguing to players.
- Cute and interesting quests (weight 0.07): Some quests are really cute, and quests are interesting, making reviewers smile. Quest design adds charm and engagement.
- Interesting gnome card types (weight 0.07): Players find the gnomes as cards interesting, including the main gnome carrying others and many types of gnome fighters. This adds variety to gameplay.

Common complaints:
- Poor balance and design issues (weight 0.58): The game is frequently criticized for poor balance, including overpowered enemies, weak player cards, and design choices that undermine strategy. Specific examples include high enemy health, imbalanced evasion, and useless commander abilities.
- Excessive grinding and slow progression (weight 0.47): Players consistently complain about the extreme grind required for leveling, meta-progression, and unlocking content, with progression described as very slow and often blocked by high experience requirements. This is a major source of frustration across many clusters.
- Forced card additions and deck dilution (weight 0.47): The game forces players to add cards to their deck after battles, often with a penalty for refusing, which dilutes the deck and breaks classic deck-building strategy. This is compounded by limited card removal options and resource costs.
- Food and sausage mechanic frustrating (weight 0.45): The food/sausage system is widely criticized as tedious, poorly balanced, and necessary for movement and abilities, often leading to starvation and card loss. It adds unnecessary complexity and frustration to runs.
- Repetitive and monotonous gameplay (weight 0.36): Many reviews note that runs feel the same, with no need to adjust strategy once a good build is found, and that the game becomes monotonous after a few hours. This is due to a shallow card pool and limited variety.
- RNG and luck dominate gameplay (weight 0.34): Many reviews highlight excessive reliance on randomness, from campaign progression to battle outcomes, with frustrating dodge chances and random enemy combinations that can be unbeatable. This reduces the strategic element and increases frustration.
- UI and quality-of-life issues (weight 0.32): The UI is criticized for being poor, lacking search options, having limited filters, and lacking basic quality-of-life features like save/load and hotkeys. This makes deck management and navigation cumbersome.
- Enemy scaling and difficulty spikes (weight 0.28): Enemies have high health, armor, and healing, with some becoming nearly unbeatable, especially in later stages. This leads to frustrating difficulty spikes and a feeling of hitting a brick wall.
- Battles are too long and slow (weight 0.27): Combat is described as incredibly long due to high enemy health, healing, and armor, with boss fights lasting up to half an hour. The lack of speed-up options and slow animations exacerbate the tediousness.
- Bugs and technical issues (weight 0.26): The game has various bugs, including crashes, save file loss, lag, and graphical glitches, which affect the overall experience. Some issues are minor, but others are game-breaking, like losing progress.
- Meta-progression blocks content (weight 0.22): Meta-progression is seen as blocking access to content and abilities, requiring excessive grinding to unlock captain abilities and attribute points. This makes the game feel like a card game with a story rather than a roguelike.
- Music and sound design weak (weight 0.21): The music is described as mellow, low-energy, monotonous, and dated, with some sound effects being disturbing or misplaced. This contributes to the sluggish and unengaging atmosphere.
- Boss immunities negate builds (weight 0.2): Several reviews mention that bosses have immunities or strengths that completely negate certain deck builds, and the game fails to warn players before they invest time in a run. This leads to wasted runs and frustration, especially in campaign missions.
- Bling and currency issues (weight 0.19): Bling is hard to obtain, only lasts for one mission, and is used up afterwards, making it feel pointless. Gold gain is also low, forcing players to skip choices or grind for resources.
- Content is insufficient and short (weight 0.19): The game has limited content, with only two chapters, about 20 enemy types, and a short story campaign, leading to repetition and a lack of replayability. This is especially noticeable in nightmare mode.
- Lack of voice acting and excessive text (weight 0.17): The game has no voice acting, and the dialogue is described as plain, flavorless text with no animations or sound effects, making it tiring to read. This detracts from the storytelling and overall experience.
- Game feels unfinished and rushed (weight 0.15): Multiple reviews describe the game as rushed, unpolished, and unfinished, with a general lack of polish and ongoing issues. This sentiment is echoed across several clusters, indicating a widespread perception of incomplete development.
- Story and dialogue problems (weight 0.14): The story is described as not funny and over-the-top nonsense, with too much dialogue between runs and translation issues that make rules confusing. This detracts from the overall experience.

Gameplay feedback:
- Card-based roguelike deckbuilder (weight 0.49): The game is consistently described as a card-based roguelike deckbuilder with tactical strategy elements, similar to Slay the Spire. Players build and manage a deck of gnome cards throughout runs.
- Mana and resource management (weight 0.38): Cards require mana to play, and players must manage resources like sausages and food for movement, abilities, and gnome upkeep. Strategic resource allocation is key.
- Deck composition and upgrades (weight 0.28): Players start with a deck of 10 gnomes, can add more gnomes during a run, and must pay upkeep for each. Upgrading individual gnomes and managing the deck size are important.
- Meta-progression and multiple modes (weight 0.25): The game features meta-progression systems and offers both a campaign mode and a roguelike mode. This provides players with varied progression methods and replayability.
- Hero leveling and attributes (weight 0.19): Heroes can level up, gaining attribute points and talents, and advancing the story unlocks new heroes. This adds a character progression layer to the gameplay.
- Wagon represents the deck (weight 0.13): The wagon serves as the player's deck, with gnomes as cards. This thematic representation ties the deckbuilding mechanic to the game's narrative.
- Turn-based and puzzle-like (weight 0.1): The game is turn-based and has puzzle-like elements, set in a fantasy world. This adds a strategic layer beyond simple card play.
- Gold for improvements (weight 0.08): Gold is used to buy sausages, restore health, upgrade cards, and purchase new cards. Managing gold is essential for progression and survival.
- Short runs with fixed goals (weight 0.08): Each run is short and has fixed goals, providing a quick and focused gameplay experience. This suits players looking for shorter sessions.
- Multiple builds and classes (weight 0.08): The game features multiple possible builds, classes, and cards, allowing for diverse playstyles and replayability.
- Hero abilities amplify deck (weight 0.08): Hero abilities and skills amplify the deck's power, providing synergy between hero talents and card play.
- No permanent death (weight 0.07): The game does not feature permanent death, making it more forgiving and accessible. This contrasts with typical roguelike mechanics.
- Card selection costs gold (weight 0.07): Skipping card selection costs 30 gold, and deleting cards costs 25 gold for the first and 50 for the second. This adds a strategic cost to deck management.
- Combat includes hit and evasion (weight 0.07): The card game includes hit and evasion rates, adding an element of chance to combat. This affects card distribution and abilities.

Performance notes:
- Loading times are terrible (weight 0.05): Players report that loading times are excessively long for a single-player roguelike deckbuilder, disrupting gameplay flow and immersion.
- Crashes in mirror mode (weight 0.05): The game crashes specifically when using mirror mode, which is a critical bug affecting a core feature.
- Card readability on Steam Deck (weight 0.05): Users find it difficult to read cards on the Steam Deck, indicating a UI scaling or resolution issue on handheld devices.
- Lag moments during gameplay (weight 0.05): Players encounter brief lag spikes lasting about 5 seconds, which can interrupt the experience but are infrequent.
- Minor graphic hiccups (weight 0.04): The game experiences minor graphical glitches that are not game-breaking but noticeable during play.
- No crashes reported (weight 0.04): One player reported that the game ran without any crashes, indicating stability for some users.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for deckbuilder fans (weight 0.22): Multiple reviewers recommend the game to fans of deckbuilders and roguelikes, highlighting its unique personality and puzzle elements. This is a common positive sentiment across several clusters.
- Worth the money (weight 0.11): Reviewers state that players will get their money's worth and recommend buying the game. This indicates strong value for the price.
- Recommended at low price (weight 0.1): The game is recommended when purchased at a low price, implying it may not be worth full price.
- Positive based on current content (weight 0.08): Reviewers recommend the game based on its current content, indicating satisfaction with what is already available.
- Wishlist and buy on sale (weight 0.07): Reviewers suggest keeping the game on a wishlist and purchasing it during a sale, indicating it is not urgent to buy at full price.
- Not recommended, buy something else (weight 0.04): One reviewer advises ignoring this game and purchasing a different title instead, suggesting significant dissatisfaction.
- Interesting roguelike requiring thinking (weight 0.04): The game is described as an interesting roguelike that requires strategic thinking, appealing to players who enjoy mental challenges.
- Watch gameplay footage if unsure (weight 0.04): Reviewers advise watching gameplay footage to help decide whether to purchase, indicating mixed feelings.
- Too frustrating until balance polish (weight 0.04): The game is too frustrating to play until balance issues are polished, indicating a need for improvements.
- Recommended for fairy tale overthrow (weight 0.04): The game is recommended for those who enjoy overthrowing a fairy tale regime with cards and gnome rage, highlighting its unique theme.

Other player notes:
- Frequent comparisons to Slay the Spire (weight 0.31): Many reviewers compare the game to Slay the Spire, often noting differences in pacing, combat rules, and enemy targeting. Some feel it lacks the control and strategic depth of Slay the Spire, while others appreciate its unique approach.
- Early access with substantial content (weight 0.24): Reviewers note the game is in early access but already offers a lot of content, including multiple maps and chapters. Some feel it is nearly finished and ready to leave early access, while others caution against marketing it as complete.
- Unique twisted fairy tale premise (weight 0.19): The game's story reimagines Snow White as a tyrant, with gnomes rebelling against her rule. This creative twist on classic tales is highlighted as a distinctive and engaging aspect of the game.
- Language support praised (weight 0.11): Reviewers appreciate the inclusion of Chinese, Japanese, and German language support, which broadens accessibility for international players. This is seen as a positive feature for a small indie title.
- Steam Deck and touchscreen support (weight 0.1): The game is playable on Steam Deck, with community control layouts and touchscreen functionality. This makes it versatile for different play styles and platforms.
- Atmospheric music and setting (weight 0.09): The game's revolutionary-humorous atmosphere, including a gnome anthem and camp music, is noted as memorable. Some find the music dated, but it contributes to the unique tone.
- Indie studio origins (weight 0.09): Developed by Hoolignomes, a very small studio, and published by HeroCraft PC, the game is an indie project. This context is mentioned by reviewers, sometimes to set expectations.
- Purchase and review context (weight 0.09): Some reviews mention buying the game cheaper on sale or via a China key, and one reviewer downloaded a torrent but bought it after the start screen. This indicates the game's value proposition.
- Prologue influenced purchase decision (weight 0.08): Several players decided to buy the game after trying a free prologue, indicating that the demo effectively showcased the game's appeal. This suggests the prologue is a strong marketing tool.
- Developer community engagement (weight 0.07): Reviewers note that the developers care about their community, with active communication and plans to expand content. This positive developer relationship is appreciated by players.
- Hero progression and unlockables (weight 0.07): The game features three heroes, with two unlocked through progression, and heroes can be upgraded with earned points to unlock talents. This adds depth and replayability.
- Positive overall reception (weight 0.06): Some reviewers call it a top game and discovery of the year, while others note it contains two games in one. This high praise suggests strong appeal for fans of the genre.
- Lack of relic system noted (weight 0.04): One reviewer points out the absence of a relic system, which is a common feature in similar games. This may be a drawback for some players expecting more customization.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.3): Players are frustrated by design choices that invalidate their builds, such as bosses requiring different attack types and enemies that negate entire decks. Long battles, excessive grinding, and poor balance further compound the issue, along with technical problems like bad loading times and lack of save options.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.15): Players enjoy the game's colorful art, humor, and strategic combat, finding the gameplay fun and the deck-building satisfying. The variety and replayability, along with the engaging story and visual style, contribute to a positive experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.13): Disappointment stems from the game not living up to its premise, with tedious gameplay, lack of variety, and excessive grinding. The story is short, mechanics are poorly explained, and the game feels unfinished, leading to a loss of interest.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.06): Satisfaction arises from the game providing good value for its price, with fun gameplay and well-balanced battles. Players appreciate the content increase from the demo and find the card-playing mechanics satisfying.
- Annoyance (weight 0.05): Annoyance is caused by various minor issues such as bugs, excessive text, and disturbing sound effects. The sausage consumption mechanic and resource restrictions interfere with card building, and progress not transferring from the prologue adds to the frustration.
- Interest (weight 0.04): Interest is sparked by the unique exploration aspect and the novel angle on fairy tales. The art style, setting, and interesting mechanics, including the wiener management, along with unique boss features, capture players' attention.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the game's art style, unique cards, and fun mechanics, as well as the funny writing. The energy recovery mechanic adds strategic depth, and the developers' support in resolving issues is valued.
- Boredom (weight 0.03): Boredom results from repetitive runs and a monotonous campaign, with long battles and a shallow card pool. The game becomes too easy and uninteresting, and the music is not engaging.
- Amusement (weight 0.02): Amusement comes from the game's humor, tongue-in-cheek references, and revolutionary atmosphere. The melody 'Vzveytes kostrami' in the camp adds to the lighthearted and entertaining experience.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is expressed for the excellent visual style and balanced gameplay. The crazy premise is brilliantly executed, earning praise from players.
- Dislike (weight 0.01): Dislike is directed at specific gameplay elements such as mirror mode being unenjoyable. The fixed deck, grinding requirement, permanent curse cards, and non-functional builds contribute to a negative view.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise is felt due to the unexpectedly high quality of the game before purchase. Players are also surprised by how time flies while playing and that the game is more strategic than anticipated.
- Excitement (weight 0.01): Excitement is generated by the game being described as cool and a masterpiece, especially for being made by 'ours'. Players look forward to future additions and updates.
- Concern (weight 0.01): Concern arises from the demo having more enemies than the paid game, suggesting untested balance decisions. Global hero progression is also too slow, with experience gaining slowly by level 4.
- Disgust (weight 0.01): Disgust is triggered by wasting time discovering boss immunities that invalidate the player's build, leading to a sense of unfairness and frustration.
- Engagement (weight 0.01): Engagement is driven by the game's progression system and replayability, which keep players invested in the gameplay loop.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is caused by tedious controls and the inability to skip post-battle rewards, which disrupts the flow of the game.
- Initial discomfort (weight 0.01): Initial discomfort is experienced due to the energy recovery mechanic being hard to adapt to, but it may be overcome with time.
- Fondness (weight 0.01): Fondness is expressed for the game being very cool and cozy, providing a comfortable and enjoyable experience.
- Respect (weight 0.01): Respect is given to the developers for making a worthy game that meets players' expectations.}