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Gnomes, the game

Saluting Gnome.At the end of 2023 I was wanting to release a simple skirmish game with the idea for it to be expandable in the future to bring new ways of playing to fun and tongue in cheek setting. I had penned some ideas, but was missing a setting and then it hit me, Gnomes. Not the foot tall garden Gnomes that we see all the time, but Gnomes all the same. I had wanted to create a game that could be played at 1:1 scale so the Gnomes had to come down to size. Specifically a size of just over an inch in height.

The idea was that this game could be played on any surface in the house or even outside. That being said as the lore for this new world of Gnomes living along side Humans there was also scope for Gnome settlements being created.

Playtesting Gnomes with cardboard meeple.
Playtesting Gnomes with cardboard meeple.

I decided that the quickest way to get the miniatures made and duplicates made available for the set would be to sculpt them in house and cast them myself.  I also took the artwork role on, opting for a sketch-style art that meant that I could iterate it quickly and colourise once I was happy with it. That being said the initial play testing was done with very basic cardboard meeples with the initial troupe type sketches printed on them along with home-made cards with stats, rules and ideas hand-written on them.

Finally on February 1st 2024 Gnomes, the skirmish game, was released and available to purchase through my www.gydran.studio web store. I am currently working on finishing the first expansion for the game (EX1a) and have two more expansions in development (EX1b, EX1c). I also have other plans for the IP and am exploring the feasibility of them in the current market place.

You can find more out bout Gnomes the skirmish game by visiting the official page here. You can also join the conversation over on the Facebook page here too where people can upload pictures of their painted miniatures and ask questions from myself an other people who follow and play the game.

You can find some galleries below.

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Gnomes: Launch day

Gnomes is a small-scale skirmish game between opposing Gnomish holds.

Hi all, welcome to the first post on the newly active Gnomes pages here at Gydran Studio. It’s been a long while coming, but it’s finally here, LAUNCH DAY!!!

Over the last year I have been shaping and moulding the proto-idea that was Gnomes into something tangible. During Christmas 2022 I was wracking my brains as to how to bring a long standing idea to life, and then it struck me… Gnomes. They were the perfect pint sized mayhem makers to insert into a newly formed universe of their own. From there the idea grew with background and factions… even creatures that inhabit the world, evolved due to the mere existence of Gnomes.

There is so much to explore in this world and my mind is awash with ideas of how these potentially complex interactions between the Gnomes and the rest of the world could play out and the effect it has had on the world at large. It’s all here in my noggin, and I have got the first tentative steps now down in the Gnomes Rulebook. Over the next weeks and months I’ll be working on more of the expansive world and even bringing some new characters to life. However, you’ll just have to wait and look out for that as and when I release it.

If you want to keep up with the games development you can either sign up to my newsletter, follow me on our social media platforms, or join me on Patreon where I update on the projects ongoing progress whenever I can, and way ahead of any other social media platform posts.

For now that’s it, and here’s to the start of something fun. Gnomes the game. Available from 19:00 GMT today, 01-02-2024.

John