Gemcraft Labyrinth

February 18, 2011 12:03 AM

So maybe you've played and liked Gemcraft or Gemcraft Chapter 0 (previously 1, 2)? Game In A Bottle are back with Gemcraft Labyrinth
posted by juv3nal (27 comments total)

Great, I was going to do so much today outside.

That's not gonna happen.
posted by Dagobert at 1:08 AM on February 18, 2011

Pretty much Cursed Treasure.
posted by clarknova at 3:11 AM on February 18, 2011

jub3nal, you have destroyed my life. I spent so many hours on Gemcraft Chapter 0 that I started dreaming in tower defense. Damn you.
posted by X-Himy at 3:23 AM on February 18, 2011

It's a good thing the forecast says a high of 58 today, or I just wouldn't stand up from this computer.
posted by explosion at 3:28 AM on February 18, 2011

Yeah, count me in as one of those adults who can't seem to exercise self-control in the face of Gemcraft 0. Fortunately, this game seems hobbled by a lot of important features being locked behind a paywall. That's enough for me to not bother getting started. Not that it doesn't look awesome. It's just that incremental levelling up is soooo addictive.
posted by RokkitNite at 3:33 AM on February 18, 2011

Pretty much Cursed Treasure.

I'm getting a fullscreen ad when I click on that link, so I didn't bother to look at the game, but I was going to make this point: Gemcraft is just another tower defense game, a genre that has been done a million times before. The Gemcraft guys, bless their little Hungarian makin'-a-livin'-off-of-MochiAds hearts, are innovative at figuring out how to do existing games really well, not at coming up with new games.
posted by XMLicious at 4:27 AM on February 18, 2011

I absolutely refuse to click this link.

But could someone please give a brief summary of what's new and different from G0?
posted by anotherpanacea at 4:54 AM on February 18, 2011

Well, I'm stuck at a desk all day instead of enjoying the outdoors (omg it's above freezing!), but this will make it a lot more tolerable. So, thanks for that!

Did anyone ever fully complete G0? I would like to be both impressed with and embarrassed for you.
posted by giraffe at 5:51 AM on February 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow, that's an awfully baroque set of additions to tower defense. I like the overworld labyrinth map, but with all the options for upgrades, gem combinations, map shaping, etc, it's a whole lot of variables to juggle. They also made the frustrating decision that your resources (er, mana) carry over from map to map. I had to quit on map 3 because I started with no mana and couldn't build the first tower I needed to kill creeps to get more mana.
posted by Nelson at 6:00 AM on February 18, 2011

Big difference: it appears that you now have control over what gems are made, vs. getting a random gem when you create one.
posted by giraffe at 6:07 AM on February 18, 2011

Can someone post a link to a mirrored site that might not be blocked through the firewall?
posted by TuxHeDoh at 6:24 AM on February 18, 2011

I hate you.
posted by The Whelk at 6:44 AM on February 18, 2011

Oh shit. I had things to do!
posted by arcticwoman at 6:50 AM on February 18, 2011

I finished G0.

I can't wait for this.
posted by josher71 at 6:52 AM on February 18, 2011

Did anyone ever fully complete G0? I would like to be both impressed with and embarrassed for you.

I did complete G0. I have mixed emotions every time I see my Kongreate achievement score.
posted by KaizenSoze at 6:55 AM on February 18, 2011

I did, but I am not proud of it.
posted by The Whelk at 6:57 AM on February 18, 2011

Why you do this to me
posted by hypersloth at 7:07 AM on February 18, 2011

I was wrong about mana carrying over map to map. You start each map with some fixed amount, although you can influence it with the Focus skill. It's just easy to get yourself in trouble; if you spend it all at the start on the wrong thing you can never recover.
posted by Nelson at 7:10 AM on February 18, 2011

As a serious lover of poison traps, I'm really digging this whole, "build a cheap wall" thing. A++ will waste entire day.
posted by giraffe at 7:31 AM on February 18, 2011

Oh no.
posted by dabug at 7:35 AM on February 18, 2011

I completed G0. I also won every Kongregate badge for that game. I am a little embarrassed of that.
posted by arcticwoman at 7:36 AM on February 18, 2011

Oh jesus. On the one hand, I've been waiting for this for some time. On the other hand, I'm in the office today. Lead me not into temptation, I can find it JUST FINE on my own...

Time to see how long I can go without clicking the link...and just before a three-day weekend? *shakes fist at Game In A Bottle*
posted by Tknophobia at 7:36 AM on February 18, 2011

Making it more sandboxy (walls, ability to build shrines and unlock whatever gem types you want on any level) is kinda fun, but definitely feels like it's taking some of the required creativity out. I hope the premium additions monetize well for the developers; I feel like I got a full game for free, and paying would get some even more sandboxy stuff.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 8:06 AM on February 18, 2011

Loved Gemcraft but G0 required too much "go back and play it again" for me, and I had trouble keeping track of where I could raise my score and where I couldn't. Even though I love repetitive games as a general thing, it was a little much.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:31 AM on February 18, 2011

This is ruining my weekend. Can't... stop...
posted by Zephyrial at 9:07 PM on February 19, 2011

Anyone know if the paid version be downloaded/played offline, or am I stuck playing it online?
posted by jepler at 8:44 AM on February 21, 2011

Anyone know if the paid version be downloaded/played offline, or am I stuck playing it online?

I don't know for sure as I haven't paid for it, but I would imagine it's online only as the stuff you'd be paying for seems to just be in-game unlockables. Plus, if it was playable offline, what would stop unscrupulous folks from redistributing it?
posted by juv3nal at 11:56 AM on February 21, 2011