Gem Wizards Tactics

About

Gem Wizards Tactics is a single player tactical turn-based strategy game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Keith Burgun Games and was released on February 16, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Gem Wizards Tactics is a turn-based strategy game with randomly generated maps and weird asymmetrical factions. Designed around endless single player play, Gem Wizards Tactics has three factions each with their own unique abilities which not only combine within factions, but you can also pick up units from other factions and combine them into your army to create new strategies.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+13

Skip User Reviews

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 create engaging and creative strategies.
The charming visuals and humorous writing add a delightful atmosphere to the gameplay, making it enjoyable despite its challenges.
The developer is actively supporting the game with updates and improvements, showing a commitment to enhancing the player experience.

The game feels incomplete, with limited content and repetitive mission objectives that can lead to a lack of long-term engagement.
There are significant bugs and issues, including problems with saving progress and inconsistent AI behavior, which can detract from the overall experience.
The user interface and art style can feel mismatched and unpolished, making navigation and gameplay less intuitive.

story
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
88%
6%
The game's story is often described as lacking depth and subtlety, with many reviewers noting its charm and humor but criticizing its abrupt endings and repetitive mission structure. While the campaign offers a brief narrative experience, it feels more like an extended tutorial with limited mission variety, leaving players wanting a more developed story mode. Overall, the narrative elements are seen as thin, with some players expressing hope for future content that could enhance the storytelling aspect.
- “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 standout feature, combining traditional hex-based combat with unique mechanics and environmental interactions that add depth and strategic variety. While the core mechanics are praised for their creativity and tactical complexity, some players note issues with repetitive objectives and an unpolished interface. Overall, the game offers engaging and varied gameplay experiences, appealing to both casual and experienced strategy enthusiasts.
- “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.”
- “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%
10%
30%
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 high 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.”
- “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 two-thirds of the game features very well-designed pixel art, while the rest leans towards 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 during 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.”
- “It's rare when a solid tactics game gets paired with such a vibrant, bubbly aesthetic.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as hilarious and charming, with a zany storyline and fun character interactions that enhance the gameplay experience. Players appreciate the quirky dialogue and amusing takes on classic tropes, which contribute to the overall enjoyment, even if some humor feels out of place in a tactical context. The combination of adorable visuals and comedic elements creates a uniquely entertaining atmosphere.
- “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 enhances the overall experience, complementing the tactical gameplay and charming visuals. Players are encouraged to engage with the game not only for its mechanics but also for its impressive soundtrack.
- “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 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 in its campaign mode, though some players find the interface unpolished and the objectives limited. However, the ranked mode provides infinite replayability, and the randomly generated maps contribute to endless replay value, especially in the challenging strategy 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%
Players appreciate the focus on battlefield tactics over complex menus, but many find the grinding aspect tedious, as repetitive missions lead to a quick sense of boredom.
- “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 an enjoyable part of the game, making it hard to stay engaged.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been reported to have stability issues, with users noting that it can be buggy and prone to softlocking.
- “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, with special units featuring quick, humorous dialogues upon spawning that 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.”