Gnaughty Gnomes Review (PC)

Gnaughty Gnomes’ pint-sized pandemonium waxes all of the right itches in a stupendously chaotic world where ornamental creatures and unhinged sandboxes collide with nonsensical shenanigans and bizarre conflicts over all-out bouts of miniature warfare. And yes, you did hear that correctly. In this backyard, it isn’t the soldiers who wage wars against nations; it’s the whimsical gnomes who yank the strings and wreak havoc across all spectrums of the microscopic hub. And the best part is, you have the power to craft your own petite wizard and engage in your wildest fantasies over physics-driven, card-infused free-for-alls. Think Overcooked meets Party Animals, and you’ll have a rough idea of what we’re talking about here.

At the heart of Gnaughty Gnomes is a vibrant and oh-so-eccentric PvP battler that invites you, a gnome with a knack for brawling, to participate in wildcard matches with other gnomes across a small but quality variety of game worlds. As a Gnome, you have the right to bear arms—a luxury that allows for each player to utilize just about any object on the board and manipulate the setting to further wax their agendas—and engage in mid-match, card-based interludes, which grant each user the chance to unlock abilities, stat-boosting perks, and several hundred different synergies that can either elevate your game or, under the circumstances, dampen your overall performance. To this end, the idea here is simple: wage wars, unlock synergies, and annihilate your opponents in jam-packed environments.

The game itself doesn’t require much effort to learn, as it is, in a similar vein as, say, Party Animals, all about mindless button mashing and wishful thinking. Regardless of the map you happen to land on, the idea is almost always the same: weaponize the setting, flail about in a fit of rage, and whittle down opponents’ health bars until a victor finally claims the top spot. As I mentioned earlier, each player can fabricate their own battle plans in the form of cards. For example, if a player chooses a card that has the power to boost their speed, then they will retain an advantage over the duration of the following round. And honestly, there are plenty of cards to pick from, too, which means that there’s always a new obstacle to overcome or condition to explore. The combat system might be a little air-headed and simple, but with the addition of a plethora of cards and game modes—Classic, Teams, and Prop Hunt—as well as thousands of customizable cosmetics, taunts, and combinations, it also ensures that you have more than enough to carve into.

With twenty original maps and more usable objects than you could dare shake a stick at, Gnaughty Gnomes provides a good amount of bang for your buck, with a constant stream of unique and oftentimes otherworldly battle conditions ensuring that no two matches are ever made to feel the same. And sure, while you could argue that a few extra maps and game modes would take the experience to the next level, the fact is, for the relatively low asking price, the game does offer a good amount of content and enough streamable moments to fill a catalog. Besides, there’s nothing to say that it won’t garner additional content in the near future. There’s a good chance of it finding a few additional pockets of DLC, anyway. With any luck, it’ll find the player base to keep it afloat for the foreseeable future. But again, it seems that we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.

Above all else, there’s an easy game here that doesn’t require a lot of effort to jump into and simply enjoy right off the bat. Even with its vast combinations and wildcard options that provide the frequent challenge, there is still an easy solution that cures most of your problems here, and it often comes in the form of hitting buttons and throwing caution to the wind, even if it means losing a few lives along the way. Although it is billed as a PvP game, I wouldn’t call it a truly competitive multiplayer experience, for it lacks the rigorous training and thought-provoking facets of a common brawler title. It’s a comedy, if anything, and it leans into that in an effort to remove mindless squabbling and unnecessary drama. You win some, and you lose some. At the end of the day, though, it doesn’t really matter, because frankly, nobody ever really knows what it is that they’re doing. It’s a free-for-all with flying colors and jigsaw pieces. Honestly, what more could you want from a game like this?

Minced with a cutesy art style and a beginner-friendly gameplay palette that doesn’t require much effort to master, Gnaughty Gnomes makes for a great little sandbox IP that has the potential to evolve into something much, much greater in future updates. An annex to enhance the library of existing maps; a treasure trove or fresh cards and abilities; and even new cosmetics to broaden the customization suite, for example. Frankly, it has the capacity to move with the tide and offer seasonal changes. Here’s hoping that, with any luck, it will knuckle in on these opportunities in the near future. We’re crossing our fingers, anyway.

Verdict

Gnaughty Gnomes delivers a genuinely entertaining PvP brawler that’s as equally sprightly as it is bursting at the seams with creative maps and comical card-based synergies. In addition to its generous collection of maps, set pieces, and combinations, it also houses an intuitive gameplay system that’s surprisingly easy to learn and roll with right off the bat. It doesn’t always make for a competitive game, and the odds of claiming a victory often boil down to mindless button swatting and dumb luck I’ll admit. But, let it be said that this isn’t your tough-as-nails PvP brawler; it’s a fast-faced “wing it” affair that frontlines the comedy value over everything else in its casket. And, weirdly, it just works here. It’s isn’t always pretty, but oh boy is it amusing and annoyingly addicting.