The Gnomish Treasury has received 1st Place by public vote in the Text Adventure Literacy Jam ! I'm delighted that players enjoyed their time with the game. This event is a competition for games created to serve as an introduction for players who are new to the genre of text adventures. Gnomish received some lovely reviews and comments: "I'm astounded that this puzzle, which is essentially fitting broken fragments together jigsaw-style, works without any images. It's pulled off with quality writing, carefully considered design, and an engaging environment that feels complex and vibrant without being overwhelming. I'm clapping my tiny, nimble hands at this one, I think it's quite an achievement." —baezil on itch.io (full review on intfiction.org ) "Most media about archaeology focuses on the fieldwork...But there’s also a lot of archaeology that happens after that point!" "That’s what The Gnomish Treasury is about, so (if it wasn’t obvious) I’m delighted from the start. It’s set in a 'standard D&D fantasy' world, where the evil warlord Skarnfang has just been defeated and his treasure vaults broken open. The gnomish kingdom, led by His Highness Thistlebloom IX of the House of Meadows, has tasked you—the most illustrious student of the great Professor Berrybramble at Mossford University—with examining and cataloguing the gnomish artifacts recovered from Skarnfang’s fortress. Fantastic premise, and played completely straight. While the gameplay loop is fairly straightforward—examine various damaged artifacts, figure out what pieces go together, and repair them—the descriptions never get repetitive. Each puzzle solved gives you new tidbits about the world...Which makes it feel like actual archaeology, not just medium-sized-dry-goods manipulation." "I had a wonderful time playing it, and will recommend it to some gnome fans I know." — Daniel Stelzer on Intfiction.org "The puzzles are not overly difficult and generally very on-the-nose, but there were a couple of nice twists and the overall interaction mechanism used the core parser game cycle of X-TAKE-DROP/USE very well... Story-wise, the lore felt consistent and relevant to the game and was parceled out in manageable chunks. The kingdoms and characters felt realistic, and I could identify with the protagonist through suspension of disbelief." — Mathbrush, 5-star review on IFDB "Absolutely adored this entry!! The setting and worldbuilding was lovely, and the gameplay loop felt rewarding and not a slog. I loved the optional entries at the end -- I finished with 18/20 points and I'll definitely replay it to get those extra 2!" — SELI-Chan on itch.io "Loved this game! There was no point in this game where I felt any frustration...The puzzles were really fun too! I love how you put so much story telling a just a couple of rooms! The story telling was incredibly well done - I was actually nervous when the kings judged my artifact placement ^^" All in all a beautiful example of a beginner friendly game!" — patricksgamecorner on itch.io The Gnomish Treasury is free to play on itch.io .
