Australian Indie studio Dystopian announced that its tower defence title Gnomes sold over 10,000 copies in the first four days of release on the 4th of April 2025. The studio wanted to speak about the success, given the shaky climate of indie development when nobody knows what games will make an impact.
In a press statement, the Brisbane-based studio said. “This is an outstanding success at a time where the majority of the almost 20,000 games released annually on Steam struggle to reach triple-figure sales.” Creative Lead Tommy McKay went on to say. “We knew straight away from the first playtest that there was something special about Gnomes. What we didn’t expect was how quickly the community would rally around Gnomes. We’re starting to feel more like cult leaders than game developers. It’s not just the overwhelmingly positive reviews or unexpected sales, it’s what they’re saying about the game that is really special for us.”
In Gnomes, players expand their village, plant crops and use garden gnomes to protect against the ever-increasing threat of the goblin horde. Gnomes is a deceptively deep blend of tower defense, roguelite, and turn-based strategy all wrapped up in a retro aesthetic. Grow crops for gold coins, place buildings, and position gnomes across 8 procedurally generated, grid-based biomes that each enable limitless potential synergies and outcomes.
“I grew up making maps in Warcraft 3. Many ideas from there have gone on to be influential,” says Technical Lead Pat B. “There was a great map called Custom Castle Defense, where the balance of economy and tower building inspired Gnomes. There was also a tower defense subgenre where you built the maze yourself, which we’ve incorporated into our gameplay.”
Every day, the map expands to reveal more territory, resources, and threats. During their turn, players can reposition their garden gnomes freely, purchase new buildings, crops, items, and gnomes at the shop, bolstering their defenses to survive the next wave.
“I really love difficult turn-based games and have been desensitized by notoriously brutal games like Battle Brothers and Stoneshard,” says McKay. “I’m only interested in making games that I would want to play myself, so Gnomes had to be a deep, tactical game with RNG that tests your sanity, but gives a satisfaction that can’t be matched by a game that treats you fairly.”
Gnomes is available now on Steam, where it has a 99% positive user review score and has a 10% launch discount until 19 April. There was also news that Gnomes. The press statement also confirmed that the game is coming to GOG soon.
