Gnome Homes’ Preview

‘Gnome Homes’ Preview
Originally written by Meg Stivinson
Gnomes Homes is an adorable casual builder for iPad from indie dev Inert Soap .

. Sweet gnomes dig rooms, and fill them with furniture and production essentials, invite new gnomes to join them, and set up an active gnome colony below the ground. Above ground, your cute gnomes can also catch and tame animals, pick flowers, and gather water.

Players build rooms and furnish adorable gnome housing, and can then watch the gnomes interacting with their surroundings. (Confession: adorable gnomes are what drew me toas well. I’m over the zombies and gore trend, —can we have more sweet little characters?) The gnome art reminds me of the old David The Gnome TV show, and the gnomes’ dialogue wouldn’t be out of place there, either. Gnome Homes is a sweet game to share with a young niece or nephew, and there’s a lot for older players to enjoy too. Like the friendly snails passing by, with familiar names like Picard, Wesley, and Geordi.

The tutorial in Gnome Homes went on much too long and involved too much clicking the arrow and not enough player choice. I don’t think builders require quite that much walkthough… we’re all pretty familiar with mechanics like, say, building a room and coming back later, or growing a flower and harvesting it, or unlocking items for a new level. I’d really have preferred a quick explanation of the digging mechanic, and then being set free to explore on my own.

Once your burrow is full of cheery little gnomes, they can get to work growing flowers and looking after animals. None of the game mechanics are surprising, but the game is a sweet and well balanced builder.

Acorns, the gnomes’ premium currency (did I mention how cute these are?) can be used to speed things up. You might want to make a purchase in order to hurry production, but players aren’t forced to do so in order to access the game. Gnome Homes balances premium currency we — it’s a splurge for players impatient for a cute gnome world, not a barrier to game access.

Overall, Gnomes Homes is a cute building game for the young gamers you know.