Gems of War

About

In Gems of War, a Puzzle/RPG/Strategy game, players match gems to power spells and skulls to battle enemies. An epic journey across realms Krystara offers heroes the chance to take on foes and forge a mighty empire. As a former software engineer at Infinity Plus Two, I contributed to updates 5.6 through 7.3, implementing new features, fixing bugs, and assisting the community team.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

76%

Audience ScoreBased on 4,600 reviews

story188 positive mentions

grinding269 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay that combines match-3 mechanics with RPG elements, providing depth and strategy.
Visually appealing with good graphics and a humorous storyline that keeps players entertained.
Free-to-play model allows for significant progress without spending money, making it accessible to a wide audience.

Heavy reliance on microtransactions and pay-to-win mechanics, making it frustrating for free-to-play players to progress.
AI often feels rigged, with opponents receiving advantageous gem drops and extra turns, leading to a sense of unfairness.
The game can become repetitive and grindy, especially at higher levels, which may deter long-term engagement.

story
845 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
74%
4%
The story in "Gems of War" is generally considered weak and simplistic, often described as a series of disjointed mini-stories tied to individual quests rather than a cohesive narrative. While some players appreciate the comic-style presentation and humor, many find the writing to be bland and repetitive, with little character development or engaging plotlines. Overall, the game is primarily enjoyed for its match-3 gameplay rather than its storytelling, which is often deemed an afterthought.
- “The story is generally pretty nonsensical, with the main character unable to utter more than a couple of words at a time, but is very skip-able with zero consequences.”
- “The game's storyline is full of puns, jokes, and absurd characters that will have you laughing out loud.”
- “Each kingdom you play has a bare bones story and dialog.”
- “The story is very bland and simple, as are the characters, so nothing special there.”
- “The story is basically non-existent.”
- “There are story missions with some extremely poorly written and silly dialogue.”
gameplay
560 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
67%
4%
The gameplay of "Gems of War" is primarily centered around a match-3 mechanic, reminiscent of Bejeweled, combined with RPG elements and card collection, offering a mix of strategy and casual play. While many players find the core mechanics engaging and addictive, the game is criticized for its aggressive monetization strategies, which can lead to a frustrating pay-to-win experience, especially in competitive modes. Overall, the gameplay is enjoyable for fans of the genre, but it can become repetitive and is often marred by issues related to balance and the overwhelming complexity of its mechanics.
- “The gameplay is fun and challenging.”
- “The gameplay is surprisingly balanced, and clearly a ton of work has gone into the assets and abilities.”
- “Gems of War mixes the ultimate game mechanic (match-3) with some more pretty popular game mechanics (RPG leveling, card collecting, and turn-based combat) in a free-to-play package that's hard to beat from the makers of Puzzle Quest.”
- “Terrible illustrations, sound, dialogues, and above all, the difficulty, which forces players into pay-to-win after just a few hours of gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is incredibly frustrating, and all progress is behind a paywall or hundreds upon hundreds of hours of soul-crushing grind.”
- “The gameplay is simple; swap the position of two touching blocks horizontally or vertically, and the swap must create a match of three colors at which point the blocks will clear and provide you with the matching resource color or a physical attack if you matched skulls.”
grinding
271 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
99%
The grinding aspect of the game is a significant point of contention among players, with many describing it as excessively tedious and time-consuming. While some enjoy the grind as a means of progression and resource collection, others find it frustrating, especially when faced with low drop rates and the pressure to either invest substantial time or money to advance. Overall, the game is characterized by a heavy reliance on grinding, which can lead to burnout for those not willing to engage in repetitive tasks.
- “It's not too grindy, and while there is a pay-to-win element, you can avoid it and do quite well playing completely for free.”
- “The most frustrating part of the game is the low drop rates of the various loot boxes and tying these to various events, very grindy daily tasks, or the soulforge, which makes progress feel tedious.”
- “You hit progression walls pretty early on and gameplay becomes a bit tedious from then on, especially since out of hundreds of troops they decide to use the same three over and over again.”
- “The grind is monotonous and never-ending, and if you want to play this game in the way it's supposed to be played, you will spend literally hours a day just grinding out stones, souls, and the all-important gold for upgrades and guild tasks.”
monetization
236 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
60%
33%
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing it as overly aggressive and reminiscent of a cash grab. While some users appreciate that the game can be enjoyed without spending money, they still find the constant push for microtransactions and in-game ads to be intrusive and frustrating. Overall, the game is seen as heavily monetized, with a significant focus on encouraging players to spend money, which detracts from the overall experience for many.
- “Great free game with no ads, I have been playing for years now.”
- “The game throws plenty of free stuff at you just by playing, and it doesn't feel like microtransactions are shoved down your throat.”
- “It's free to play and while it has in-game purchases, I have never felt any need to buy anything in order to enjoy it.”
- “It's a shameless cash grab.”
- “The game is indeed fun, but ruined by microtransactions.”
- “The overall experience is tiring, interesting game concept crippled by a clumsily integrated monetization system.”
graphics
199 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
45%
8%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the vibrant, colorful artwork and detailed character designs, while others criticize recent updates that have led to a decline in visual quality and readability. The art style is often described as comic-like and appealing, though some find it generic or unoriginal. Overall, while the graphics are generally considered good for a match-3 game, there are calls for further improvements and a cohesive aesthetic to enhance the gaming experience.
- “The graphics are colorful and eye-catching, with detailed character designs and vivid environments.”
- “The graphics are superb, the storylines amusing, and the gameplay engrossing.”
- “The graphics are bright and colorful, and the animations are wacky and over-the-top.”
- “This is no high-end 3D graphic; it is some comic art which shouldn't consume the whole CPU power on a computer where games with far better graphics run smoothly.”
- “After the July 2023 graphics update, it's practically unplayable for many users.”
- “The graphics were heavily downgraded and mostly consist of monochrome display buttons and modern design elements of low quality that do not fit the fantasy theme.”
music
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
63%
6%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive, generic, and often too loud, leading them to mute it in favor of their own playlists. While some appreciate the orchestral quality and immersive sound effects, others feel it doesn't fit the game's aesthetic and can become annoying over time. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a weak point, detracting from the otherwise enjoyable gameplay experience.
- “The sound effects and music are also well done, immersing players in the world of the game and adding to the overall enjoyment of the gaming experience.”
- “The music is great.”
- “The music fits the game.”
- “Extremely unintuitive, settings menu doesn't exist so you're constantly blasted with max volume trash music.”
- “The music is generic, and the sounds are more annoying than helpful.”
- “The music track stops in the middle as if the composer quit.”
humor
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
2%
The humor in "Gems of War" is characterized by witty, pun-filled dialogue and absurd character designs that often elicit genuine laughter. Players appreciate the game's tongue-in-cheek style, with humorous storylines and quirky lore for each kingdom, although some find the humor to be hit-or-miss. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with its match-3 mechanics, providing a lighthearted experience that appeals to a wide audience.
- “The game's storyline is full of puns, jokes, and absurd characters that will have you laughing out loud.”
- “Gems of War has a very tongue-in-cheek kind of humor, so if you are allergic to puns, I advise against it.”
- “Brilliant artwork, and hilarious characters.”
- “She is terrible, knows nothing, is not funny, isn't creative... and like I said, is pure annoyance.”
stability
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
4%
80%
The stability of the game is widely criticized, with many users reporting an overwhelming number of bugs, glitches, and crashes, particularly following updates. While some players note that the game runs well on certain systems, the overall sentiment reflects frustration over poorly implemented features, unresponsive AI, and a lack of timely fixes for long-standing issues. Despite its enjoyable aspects, the game's stability issues significantly detract from the overall experience.
- “It runs great on my crappy integrated graphics laptop.”
- “No glitches or bugs whatsoever, so if you're a masochist, you'll have fun.”
- “Playing it on both and it runs great and looks sharp on both.”
- “Terribly buggy, as one would expect of a Unity game.”
- “And to top that off, for quite some time now the updates release buggy and take far too long to get things fixed or even acknowledged as broken.”
- “If you enjoy frequent crashes at random points, cheating AI, buggy text, random in-game freezes to where you have to ctrl+alt+delete just to close the game, and where the music will just decide to turn itself off.”
replayability
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
54%
13%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, driven by its multiple modes, strategic depth, and continuous content updates, including new troops and challenges. Players appreciate the social aspects and guild dynamics that enhance engagement, while the variety of quests and gameplay mechanics ensure that there is always something new to explore. Overall, it is regarded as one of the most replayable games in its genre, offering an infinite replay value.
- “There are multiple modes and it has a depth of strategy and replayability that I've not found in any other match-3 game of its kind.”
- “Overall, Gems of War is a unique and enjoyable game that offers plenty of content and replayability.”
- “Each kingdom contains quests, many challenges, and an arena mode that makes the game infinitely replayable.”
- “Their is a bit of strategy involved; if you think of it as a tank, DPS, and heal RPG game, there is replayability in there.”
- “They are constantly adding troops which helps keep the game replayable, so you can make new team compositions. It's a little weak on some specifics, and details could use a nice wiki or tutorial help section; however, you will get it figured out plus there is always Google and others sharing knowledge.”
- “The emphasis on this game is replayability, not how it looks artistically.”
emotional
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
82%
18%
Reviews highlight a mixed emotional response to the game, with some players expressing frustration over a lack of character development and a perceived cash grab, while others find satisfaction in gameplay mechanics and appreciate the game's improvements over time. The emotional investment varies, with some players feeling a strong connection and commitment, while others remain indifferent or disappointed. Overall, the emotional experience is shaped by individual expectations and the game's evolving nature.
- “The rules were intuitive and playing delivered a great emotional satisfaction where for the most part, player skill would triumph over whatever else was happening.”
- “I invested in the game personally, emotionally, and financially.”
- “After 4 years of not touching Gems of War, I gotta say that the game has improved... a lot!”
- “Very boring story with zero introduction to characters.”
- “Overall, you will be pestered constantly to sign up/pay real money for upgrades. Sorry, but this game is just another cash grab with a long, boring story, no real concept, and not even original—just ripping off a few other games out there.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players noting that its comic art style should not demand excessive CPU power, especially when compared to other games with superior graphics that run smoothly. Despite recent improvements from an engine overhaul, many still find the game poorly optimized, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences, particularly against over-optimized teams. Overall, while there are ongoing updates and features, the optimization issues significantly detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “This is no high-end 3D graphic; it is some comic art which shouldn't consume the whole CPU power on a computer where games with far better graphics run smoothly.”
- “They are really open with their players on the official forums, releasing at least one new troop every single week on Monday, new kingdoms and game features every few months, and just this week they released a massive engine overhaul (Adobe Air -> Unity), meaning drastically improved performance and new game features.”
- “(This is especially fun if you get frustrated facing over-optimized teams, because the randomization and limited scope evens the field for deck-building strategy.) It costs in-game gold to play, so it might be harder to access for new players, but this is a resource that continually regenerates and the cost for arena matches quickly becomes negligible.”
- “I'm also finding that the game is poorly optimized.”
- “In short, Gems of War, once you go beyond the core match-3 part, is a massive problem in optimization that is deliberately made unsolvably complex -- unless you pick a particularly narrow definition of what you're considering 'optimal,' I suppose.”
- “So, the most I can tell you is that, in my opinion, it's stunningly similar to Puzzle Quest with some nice gameplay changes, but is so poorly optimized that it's not worth bothering with.”
character development
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
43%
43%
Character development in Gems of War is multifaceted, featuring deep team and character progression through various models, including PvE and PvP elements. While the game offers engaging character designs and humorous enemy descriptions, it lacks the narrative complexity found in genre leaders like Puzzle Quest. Overall, players appreciate the depth of skills and traits, which enhance the gameplay experience as they progress.
- “There are four primary progression models: capturing empires in PvE; overall character level (there are hundreds of levels); primary character development, which ties back into capturing empires; and a weekly PvP level competition.”
- “While Gems of War - Puzzle RPG offers an engaging blend of puzzle and RPG elements, it falls short in comparison to genre leaders like Puzzle Quest in terms of story complexity and character development.”
- “However, the character development, skills (traits) building, and PvP all help the player characters in some different fashion -- the more I play, the deeper this game seems to get ... and the more I enjoy it.”
- “Character development and team development is deep along with guild interactions.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is described as initially vibrant and immersive, enhanced by voice acting and enjoyable music. However, recent updates have significantly altered this experience, shifting from a whimsical fairytale vibe to a darker, less coherent ambiance, leading to mixed feelings among players.
- “While it was fun and enjoyable for a long time, with happy colors, nice atmosphere, and excellent music, the entire 'feel' of the game has slowly been stripped away.”
- “Implementing voice acting is essential to enhancing immersion and creating a more captivating atmosphere.”
- “But I do not recommend it because the 3.2 patch radically changed its fairytale atmosphere to a nightmarish, unreadable 'something'.”

Buy Gems of War

107h Median play time

355h Average play time

23-330h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 50 analyzed playthroughs

Videos

89%10kreviews

Gems of War - Match 3 RPG

Casual Role Playing

80%3.2kreviews

Duelyst

2016

Turn-based Strategy

49%326reviews

Puzzle Quest 3

2023

Casual Role Playing

+12

84%3.6kreviews

Card Hunter

2015

Role Playing

72%3.3kreviews

GUNS UP!

2018

Tactical Real-time Strategy

48%382reviews

Epic Cards Battle

2013

Casual Strategy

81%10kreviews

Magic: Puzzle Quest

2015

Casual Role Playing

41%10kreviews

Mighty Party

2017

Casual Role Playing

71%4.7kreviews

Boom Slingers

Casual Shooter

85%10kreviews

Questland: Rundenbasiertes RPG

Casual Role Playing

Gems of War Tweets

Gems of War

Platforms

About

Buy Gems of War

Gems of War

Gems of War

Videos

Games Like Gems of War

Gems of War - Match 3 RPG

Duelyst

Puzzle Quest 3

Card Hunter

GUNS UP!

Epic Cards Battle

Magic: Puzzle Quest

Mighty Party

Boom Slingers

Questland: Rundenbasiertes RPG