Celebrating 10 years of adventure in Gems of War

[Gems-of-War]

Originally published at: Celebrating 10 years of adventure in Gems of War – Gems of War

Gems of War has come such a long way since its humble beginnings when it first launched globally on iOS and Steam in November 2014. If you were with us back in the early days you might remember just how small the world of Krystara was, with only 15 Kingdoms and 3 game modes: Kingdom…

[Graeme]

@Gems-of-War

Update 3.3 – February 2018

We cannot talk about milestone updates without mentioning update 3.3 – it was HUGE. There was no bigger single update before or since – It’s still amazing what was able to be achieved in this one update.

2018. “Before or SINCE.”

[NerdieBirdie]

So cool to see the years in review! I love the seeing how things have evolved over the years. So happy to be playing this game and interacting with the community after so much time and so much change!

Can’t wait to see what’s in store (I’m excited for bastions!) and here’s to another 10 years!

Love to the dev team. Despite all the disagreements or disappointments (especially in these Lands of the Forum), you guys have made a fantastic game lasting over a decade which STILL manages to be non-P2W and a buttload of fun.

Happy gemming, everyone!

[TheIdleOne]

I miss the looks of the old Gems of War. Looked like a fantasy world. Nice post to remember times of the past and hoping the future is bright.

and the thing that should probably be kept to myself but ... nah.

So somewhere between 5.6 Gnome-a-palooza - 6.0 Journey and onwards seems to be when I started to dislike a vast majority of the changes/additions to Gems of War.

So Underspire was July 18th, 2023 and now its November 2024 and I’m still at 4 Sentinels. …

[Zuul-Emo]

Mad to think I’ve been playing since 2018, joining just after the underworld arrived, and I was drawn in by the fun little puzzle game that added a bunch of cool mechanics to the standard match-3 games like candy crush, and the multiple pages with unlockables to the standard trading card games, mashing them together to make something interesting. Back then I remember battles were all about carefully selecting which gems to match and planning how to use spells, skulls and controlling the board to beat your opponent, and it was awesome to play. Now, that style of play feels alien, and only really exists in the “mini-game” modes (arena and treasure hunt), while most of the game is just about spamming a few spells and watching to see if the RNG lets you win. I don’t find myself playing tactically most of the time, and it makes a lot of battles boring, and frustrating. I doubt the game is going to start moving away from the RNG-heavy mechanics and luck-over-skill style of battling, but I can hope something changes in the right direction, at least.
Here’s hoping the next ten years are spent making the game better, not just buggier.

[Darkborne]

@Gems-of-War

Sirrian, Nimhain and Andrew still talk about how great it was to meet some adventurers at PAX!

The community has evolved beyond a group of players interacting in a game, there have been thousands of real friendships formed outside of the game, even marriages! We’ve loved seeing your pets named after your favourite troops, the fan art created and even the art you have loved enough to have tattooed on your skin!

I will take this post as an admission that times were in many ways…better back then. More community involvement, less “obligatory guild services,” and players, I think, seemed to be happier. Honestly, what happened? You need us, yes, actual human beings, to make this game better. You can’t just throw micro transactions at a game and expect it to get better…

I appreciate the heartfelt post. Gems of war has grown a lot since I first started playing this game on Switch in 2018. It is very difficult to balance content for new adventurers and seasoned veterans, but you guys have done some solid work to make life in Krysteria a lot easier to manage.

I, and many others, await the return of guild wars, which was delayed for pvp updates. But I honestly can accept that now because pvp probably turned into something much more that your staff intended, but you persevered and gave us a great way to learn new tactics and level up our kingdoms at a faster pace than ever before.

Again, thank you for continuing to make improvements on the game. Just don’t forget to stop by every now and then to see how we’re doing.

[awryan]

@Kafka
Holidays are going to be awkward this year since “Dad” didn’t provide a shout out to me in his thank you post.
Maybe @Sirrian will do better in the 20 year anniversary post.

[Theoden]

The update timeline has holiday events starting Dec 12, 2022. The first one was Oct 24, 2022, and was the one with Carmina.

[Seward101]

The last 2 years haven’t been great though. Frustrating rng yet when we complain about it we get MORE rng. It’s getting to the point now when i think it’s time to move on and spend my money elsewhere, we are losing very good players and it’s a shame because there is a lot to like about this game but its being ruined

[NerdieBirdie]

@Zuul-Emo

Back then I remember battles were all about carefully selecting which gems to match and planning how to use spells, skulls and controlling the board to beat your opponent, and it was awesome to play. Now, that style of play feels alien, and only really exists in the “mini-game” modes (arena and treasure hunt), while most of the game is just about spamming a few spells and watching to see if the RNG lets you win.

Although I have very mixed feelings about pure delves, one aspect they did well in is adding back some of this tactfulness and difficulty. There was actual strategy involved again and moves had to be made carefully.

Of course, some pure delves are also ridiculously RNG-based.

[canadademon]

@NerdieBirdie

Of course, some pure delves are also ridiculously RNG-based.

Thinking about it, I consider Pure Faction runs probably the best challenge in the game. The RNG is in the battle, where it should be.

It’s not Hoard Mimic, where you have to waste multiple years of your life before you get it.

Or Dragon Eggs/Sentinels, where you have to spend resources for probable dupes.

Or Burning Marks, where you get something entirely useless 1/3 of the time.

The problem with Delves is - once it’s done, it’s done. There’s never a reason to go back to it.

[Raistlin]

I’d be happy with 4. I only have 2 plus a dupe.

[overthinker]

First of all, thank you, Gems of War, for your wonderful community! I am so grateful for DarwinX, Borjay, Gary, Shadowfeld, Sylverscale and many others. Your dedication and support of this game means a lot to me.
I can’t help but remember amazing Hawx. Her guides and community work made me feel like someone actually cares!

@Gems-of-War

Having actual players translate the game into their native tongue adds a level of authenticity it’s otherwise difficult to achieve.

Wow, such sweet lies.
The translation into Russian has long been done either by autotranslate (e. g. Campaign lore) or abandoned at all (shiny troops lore)

[WWDiver]

I’d like to point out that at the start there were not 15 kingdoms but only 6 if I remember correctly.
Also there was the arena as game mode.

[WWDiver]

At 4 sentinels??? congratulations … I still have to get my first one.

[FanosSlapVt]

I dont want to hear about ANYTHING or any new event, monster, or money costume anything.

Until I see the words

“Finally updated War Coins store with 5 new color combinations of banners. Happy 10 years how did we not do this already lol we’re sorry”

[Captain_Biggs]

Remember when the game was actually fun and not full of monetized ads everywhere you look?

[TheIdleOne]

Happy 10 years of Gems of War.

[awryan]

Interesting strategy to recognize Black Friday (American retail holiday) and not Thanksgiving (Actual American holiday).

[Hazard1]

Wow, $500 value for only $99,99!!!