GemCraft

[Doppleganger]

Searching through my Gmail inbox, I found an email entitled "GemCraft" sent to myself in 2009 with a code. I dropped the code in GemCraft 0 and was able to recover the progress I'd made in that game five years ago. I never liked zero as much as the original because I had trouble figuring out how to "game" it, but I've figured it out now.

So, a brief introduction to this old but fun series. GemCraft began as a tower defense game available for free on Armour Games. The title is meant to evoke association with StarCraft's real-time environment, engaging game-play and frame tale, although it's a step down from SC in story, less than even WarCraft: Orcs and Humans. But the important part is the game-play.

Basically, the lost land is infested with monsters that have taken over mage towers, and your job is to conquer the land back using gem magic. Build towers and place gems in their steeples to destroy the monsters. Basic, right? Things get a lot more complex from there.

Chapters:

Classic
Zero
Labyrinth

[Doppleganger]

GemCraft 2 was released earlier this month, and unlike the originals it's full of retail content. That sucks, especially because difficulty wise the game is a LOT harder.

I lagged to get out of the first hexagon and right now I can't kill the Giants. 7,000 HP with a 50+ armour class is too much to get over for the gems available in the free version. This is so annoying.

[Doppleganger]

This is the most powerful gem I've ever built.

I'm pretty proud of it. I got 60M XP off this level.

[Doppleganger]

I've made much more powerful gems since that last one!