Gem Wizards Tactics

About

In Gem Wizards Tactics, take on the role of Derby Pocket, a Business Demon Intern, and discover the dark secrets of the OMNIGEM. This turn-based strategy game features five asymmetrical factions with unique units and abilities, encouraging creative army building and limitless strategic possibilities. The game is designed for endless single-player play and promises a wicked challenge for those seeking a deep and dynamic wargaming experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+13

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 64 reviews

gameplay16 positive mentions

stability1 negative mentions

The game features deep tactical gameplay with unique unit abilities and environmental interactions that encourage creative strategies.
The charming art style and humorous writing add a light-hearted tone to the gameplay, making it enjoyable despite its challenges.
The developer is actively updating the game and has plans for additional content, which shows a commitment to improving the player experience.

The game currently lacks sufficient content, with only a few factions and repetitive mission objectives, leading to a feeling of incompleteness.
There are notable bugs and issues with the user interface that can disrupt gameplay, such as soft locks and inconsistent unit actions.
The AI is often criticized for being mediocre, relying on sheer numbers rather than strategic depth, which can diminish the challenge.

story
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
87%
6%
The game's story is often described as lacking depth and subtlety, with many players finding it charming yet simplistic, leading to a somewhat abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. While the campaign mode offers a variety of missions, it tends to feel repetitive and more like an extended tutorial than a fully fleshed-out narrative experience. Overall, the story elements are seen as thin, with some players expressing a desire for more substantial content and diverse mission objectives to enhance engagement.
- “All of this wrapped up in a hilarious and zany storyline.”
- “There is something of a story mode in this game, with the world's lore established early on during the tutorial and progressively emerging through story tidbits gained through the collection of 'omni gems', which serve to fuel player units' special abilities as well as add to the game's backstory compendium.”
- “A great side story and 4 unique campaigns should satisfy anyone's tactics itch.”
- “The story and 'roguelite' campaign mode, however, I find a bit lackluster.”
- “It's been reported that this game is a bit thin on the content and the story campaign.”
- “What's worse is that there does exist a snippet of story in the form of 'Derby's story' which plays out like the prologue to an actual story mode that is never delivered.”
gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
37%
10%
The gameplay is a blend of traditional hex-based combat, unique unit abilities, and innovative terrain mechanics, offering a mix of strategic depth and variety. While the core mechanics are praised for their creativity and tactical engagement, some players note issues with repetitive objectives and an unpolished interface. Overall, the game provides a compelling experience with emergent gameplay and a charming aesthetic, making it enjoyable for both casual and experienced players.
- “The gameplay is a very interesting mix of traditional hex-based unit combat, unit special abilities, and terrain manipulation.”
- “An outstanding tactical game with emergent gameplay and fresh new ideas.”
- “The gameplay is simple at first glance, but the synergies among units add deep, tactical, and surprising complexity to the Advanced Wars-like formula.”
- “Now, the replayable campaign mode is decent, but the interface feels unpolished, and the gameplay suffers from a lack of different possible objectives.”
- “The campaign mode has just the right length (9 missions gives you ample time to build up your units, but it's short enough that you can complete a run in an hour), but there being only one mission type (capture x amount of flags), coupled with the infinite reinforcements mechanic means that the ways you tackle the maps are similar.”
- “Gameplay is simple at first glance, but the synergies among units add deep, tactical, and surprising complexity to the Advanced Wars-like formula.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The game's graphics feature a unique blend of well-designed pixel art and high-fidelity minimalism, creating a vibrant and charming aesthetic that enhances the overall experience. While some technical issues have been reported, the visuals are generally praised for their beauty and ability to complement the engaging gameplay, contributing to the game's replay value. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point, adding to the game's appeal.
- “But all is not lost as the beautiful graphics will keep you playing again & again.”
- “It's rare when a solid tactics game gets paired with such a vibrant, bubbly aesthetic.”
- “This challenging strategy game has beautiful visuals and offers endless replay value due to the randomly generated maps!”
- “The mix of graphic styles is a bit odd; about 2/3 of the game is very well-designed pixel art, and the rest is mostly high-fidelity minimalism.”
- “In the first update, a lot of problems pop up: the grim reaper skill wasn't working, the vampire unit's graphics would disappear once it spends its action points, the HUD would disappear on my turn so I couldn't choose skills, the game failed to save my progress, and sometimes the units would move more or less than their available action points.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as hilarious and charming, with a zany storyline and fun dialogue that adds to the overall enjoyment. Players appreciate the quirky takes on classic tropes and the amusing interactions between units, which contribute to a lighthearted atmosphere despite the tactical gameplay. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making it engaging and entertaining.
- “All of this wrapped up in a hilarious and zany storyline.”
- “I don't personally mind this, and what content is there is hilarious and charming.”
- “The world and lore is hilarious.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The music in the game is widely praised as fantastic and greatly enhances the overall experience, complementing the charming visuals and tactical gameplay. Players appreciate the quality of the soundtrack, which adds depth to the game, making it a standout feature.
- “The music is fantastic, the gameplay is tactical and thanks to new difficulty settings it will be hard enough for experienced players in the genre.”
- “And charming visuals and a great soundtrack, just get it already!”
- “Also, the music is great.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers decent replayability, particularly through its campaign mode and ranked mode, though some players find the interface unpolished and the objectives limited. However, the randomly generated maps in the strategy mode provide endless replay value, enhancing the overall experience for those who enjoy challenging gameplay.
- “Infinite replayability with ranked mode as well.”
- “This challenging strategy game has beautiful visuals and offers endless replay value due to the randomly generated maps!”
- “Also comes with replay value, but that would only matter if your first playthrough was fun.”
- “The replayable campaign mode is decent, but the interface feels unpolished, and the gameplay suffers from a lack of different possible objectives.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
150%
While the game emphasizes tactical combat with minimal distractions from menus or metagame elements, many players find the grinding experience monotonous, as repetitive missions across similar maps can lead to boredom and a sense of tedium in progression.
- “Nearly all of your time will be spent on the battlefield; no nested menus, no tedious metagame, just pure tactics.”
- “The grinding in this game feels rewarding, as every battle contributes to my character's growth and progression.”
- “I love how the grinding is integrated into the gameplay; it never feels like a chore, but rather an essential part of the adventure.”
- “I can say from my personal experience that the game gets boring pretty quickly; every map has the same mission, and progressing is tedious.”
- “The grinding feels endless, and it often feels like I'm just repeating the same tasks over and over without any real sense of achievement.”
- “After a while, the grind becomes more of a chore than a fun challenge, making it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been noted for its stability issues, with users reporting bugs and instances of softlocking that detract from the overall experience.
- “The only real flaw I can think of is that the game is a bit buggy and tends to softlock.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express frustration with the game's emotional impact, indicating that the current difficulty and reinforcement mechanics detract from their enjoyment and connection to the experience. They feel that these elements hinder their ability to engage with the game's emotional narrative fully.
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development in the game is minimal, as the fast, humorous dialogues of special units during spawning do not contribute to deeper character arcs or narrative significance, which feels out of place in a tactical context.
- “The special units have fast dialogues when they spawn, but those have nothing to do with character development or anything important. I guess they are meant to be funny, which is fine for an arcade-type game, but it feels weird for a tactical game.”