- Patch v.1.3.0 - 14 July 2026
The sea creature Kwidikwik joins the roster of of playable Gemwielders. The Trident rewards a balanced, tactical playstyle, mixing attack and defense, and synergizes exceptionally well with card draw and card sorting. I also added some new achievements to go along with it and polished the stat screen for multiplayer matches. Content A new playable character has been added to the game, the sea creature Kwidikwik wields the mighty Trident. Achievements The “Power Grid” achievement now is unlocked by using Substation while having Amber Engine in play. Trident comes with three new achievements to unlock. Polish Match statistics are presented more cleanly and fit all the gembearers more easily. (You can check your multiplayer statistics by clicking your own name in the title screen. This also accesses your multiplayer match history.) Bug Fixes Added a delay when using the Tome shuffle abilit…
- Patch v.1.2.1 - 4 May 2026
The player info, accessed via clicking your name in the main menu, now correctly displays statistics and match history for Onyx. Bug Fixes Onyx statistics are correctly displayed in the statistics panel. The match history correctly displays Onyx gems.
- Patch v.1.2.0 - 28 April 2026
This major update adds a new unique gem, the Onyx. Thematically you are in a swamp setting, collecting herbs and gathering ingredients to grind up in your mortar and pestle. The gameplay of this gem revolves around getting rewards for discarding cards. Sokras knows how to use Onyx properly and the gem will be unlocked in solo play after you win a small number of games. Have fun exploring the Onyx swamp and may the gems favor you. Content Added a brand new gem type from the paper version of Gemwielders, Onyx. This gem revolves around discard mechanics: Many cards reward the player when being discarded while others create effects from discarding cards. Renamed the “Skola”-button to “Play Solo”. This is to avoid confusion and to communicate better that the game can be enjoyed as a single-player experience. Sokras When Sokras gets to pick a card to be discarded, their choice is more refined…
- Patch v.1.1.1 - 2 February 2026
Hotfix to properly display the match history entries for Flute and Tome and another minor display bug regarding Ancient Recipe. Bug Fixes The match history correctly displays the icons for Flute and Tome. In online multiplayer, playing Ancient Recipe alternately (without paying the power cost), now displays properly for the other side. Technical When not connected to Steam the “Play Online” button won’t appear.
- Patch v.1.1.0 - 23 January 2026
After implementing the illustrations from the paper game and repainting the backgrounds I felt the models, gems and cards didn’t fit the rest of the game as well as they should. I therefore decided to make some major changes to the art style: Taking inspiration from paper theatre, I repainted all the models and changed the look of the cards to match the paper version of Gemwielders. The new “paper” models are, of course, much simpler to animate. They move when attacking or being hit as if held by an invisible hand. Due to that simplicity I could implement two new characters, the freshly reworked Flute and, an all time favorite, Tome. This change marks a new beginning for the game, and I am convinced the gems are looking favorable upon the further development of Gemwielders. Content Added a complete new Character from the paper version of Gemwielders, Nishkin, wielder of the Flute. The i…
- Patch v.1.0.2 - 5 December 2025
Apart from fixing a couple of minor bugs, this patch tries to address edge cases where desynchronization would occur in online multiplayer games. Since these are not easy to reproduce, it’s very hard to tell whether I managed to fix them. Hopefully, however, I got to the root of things this time or at least reduced the likelihood of their occurrence. Bug Fixes Hiding the draft row to check the game start by pressing the draft row button works properly in “pass and play”. Coral Reef correctly readies a single used and usable modification automatically, even when you currently don’t have the power to use it. Since game ending actions still sometimes did not get submitted correctly in online multiplayer, I increased the delay before cutting the peer to peer connections after the game ended. Improved the seed syncing flow in online multiplayer to avoid edge cases where the wrong deck would…
- Patch v.1.0.1 - 14 November 2025
When another player is waiting in queue for an online match, you get an indication of that. In the main menu, he text “trouble awaits …” will appear and during a game a small icon in the bottom left corner will let you know that someone is looking for trouble. Another important feature is the presentation of the ladders. They are now presented more cleanly and are thereby much more fun to check and look at. I fixed a number of bugs, including two major ones regarding multiplayer synchronization. Together with some polish to the main menu layout and the statistic display this patch presents another big step forward to a more polished overall experience. Quality of Life While someone is waiting in queue, other players will see the words “trouble awaits …” displayed over their “Play Online” button. When playing against Sokras or “pass and play” and a multiplayer lobby opens, an indicator w…
- Patch v.1.0.0 - 31 October 2025
I spent the last two week’s painting more backgrounds so there is a good variety of beautiful backgrounds in the release version. I also added another toy for Sokras that rewards building up your deck more slowly before dishing out damage, rounding out their repertoire. Additionally, I made some tweaks here and there and fixed all the bugs I am aware of. Let’s go! Content I added a new battle stage, a rock plateau overlooking the beach and ocean. Another new battle stage features a wooden bridge crossing an overgrown river in summer bloom. Sokras can bring a new Gadget to class, the Compass. Polish Sokras stops using Junkyard when low on life and power. Adjusted the character highlight color when hovering a character during your main phase. Bug Fixes Scrap pile button is working again.
- Beta Patch v.0.2.5 - 17 October 2025
I added a new gadget that Sokras can bring to class on higher Student Ranks, the Abacus. I really like the design space these provides and more will be added every now and then. Apart from that I updated Unity to fix the security issue and improved the way character highlighting works. Content Sokras got a new toy, the Abacus. Polish Added an underlay to the clock in multiplayer games for better readability and positioned it differently. The clock is no longer stopped in multiplayer games upon disconnect to avoid possible griefing. You can choose to be polite and wait for a possible reconnect or continue play. The change of color when hovering a character is only activated during your own main phase. Removed the period from Cursed Cave’s prompt to return or discard the card. Slightly longer display of reconnect announcement upon reconnecting in online multiplayer. Maintenance Updated Un…
- Demo Patch v.1.1.2 - 10 October 2025
I updated my Unity version to address a known security issue. This made a few adjustments to the color of some fonts necessary. I also changed the highlighting of characters when you hover them so it would only occur during your own main phase for a cleaner look and cleaned up the win screen a little. There was also a minor bug regarding the increasing of Student Rank that has been sorted out. Maintenance Updated Unity version to fix known security issues. Font color tweaks were necessary due to Unity version update. Polish The change of color when hovering a character is only activated during your own main phase. The winner of a game is no longer displayed as text on the win screen as the player medal makes it redundant. Bug Fixes Student Rank always increases the correct amount upon a win.
- Beta Patch v.0.2.4 - 3 October 2025
With the new visuals I had to rework the Steam page and make a new trailer. Therefore, the actual patch this week is very small. I fixed a display bug where the illustrator information would linger a bit and I made it so Sokras adds their special modification to their discard pile instead of their hand in the beginning of the game. This feels more natural and makes it easier to inspect and keep track of. It also opens up design space, allowing gadgets to be more powerful. Balance Sokras adds the special gadget they bring to class to their discard pile instead of their hand. Polish The Illustrator information disappears more quickly when a shown card fades out.
- Beta Patch v.0.2.3 - 19 September 2025
Beta Patch v.0.2.3 I painted a lot of backgrounds, including one for a brand new battle stage, the Funky Swamp. With this patch, I am happy and proud to announce, there are no more generated images in the game. All illustrations and backgrounds are painted traditionally in ink and watercolor on watercolor paper. I am extremely happy with my decision of replacing the generated art with real art and greatly look forward to expanding the game with new hand painted battle stages and card illustrations in the future. Content Brand new battle stage: Funky Swamp. Art Style Brand new title screen. Improved Hammer art. Replaced Enchanted Forest battle stage background. Replaced Spirit Realm battle stage background. Replaced Brimming Meadow battle stage background. Bug Fixes Fixed an edge case regarding Sokras’ usage of Tide Generator and Secret Stash. Polish Adjusted positioning of various title…
- Demo Patch v.1.1.1 - 19 September 2025
As of now there are no more generated images present in the build and I am proud to say that all backgrounds and illustrations are hand painted in traditional ink and watercolor style. Content Brand new battle stage: Funky Swamp. Art Style Reworked title screen. Replaced battle stage backgrounds. Polish Adjusted positioning of various title screen elements. In game, player models are brighter and subtly tinted orange when hovered over. This is for better overall look and readability. Further tweaked gem colors.
- Demo Patch v.1.1.0 - 12 September 2025
I decided to replace all generated image illustrations with my own watercolor illustrations. Title screen and backgrounds are next. Art Style Replaced illustrations for all cards by hand painted watercolor and ink paintings. New Hammer art. New Sokras art. New card frames. New gem images. New Sources.
- Beta Patch v.0.2.2 - 5 September 2025
I spent the last two weeks painting to replace the art for Hammer and Sokras. Now all generated images have been removed from the game with the exception of the backgrounds. These will be replaced next. Apart from painting I fixed a few minor bugs and added some polish. I also decided that Storm Catcher does not work as I imagined and it’s up for a rework or replacement. Art Style New Hammer art. New Sokras art. Bug Fixes Amber Engine description text now correctly states that the Source is discarded and not scrapped. After the game ends, no more connection status messages are displayed. Fixed typo in Coral Reef’s description. Balance Storm Catcher provided Sokras with a lot power but it was not very interesting to play against. I therefore decided to disable it for now and will replace it with another gadget or rework it fundamentally. Polish Added illustration credit. Adjusted card fr…
- Beta Patch v.0.2.1 - 22 August 2025
The improvements to the network code would be quite major by themselves, even bigger is the art style shift commencing in this patch: I decided to remove all generated images from the game. Those that still are in the client can be considered placeholders. During the coming transition period that will precede a period of refinement, the game will look somewhat disjointed. I am convinced, however, that it looks more charming and unique even in this current state of transformation. Art Style Replaced Dagger Illustrations. Replaced Pistol Illustrations. Replaced Amber Illustrations. Replaced Amethyst Illustrations. Replaced Emerald Illustrations. Replaced Ruby Illustrations. Replaced Sapphire Illustrations. Replaced Aquamarine Illustrations. Replaced Source Illustration. Replaced gem images. Replaced card frames. Balance While I really like the new Amber Engine, often you found yourself ad…
- Beta Patch v.0.2.0 - 8 August 2025
There is a saying in game design: “follow the fun“. During testing I realized that it is great fun just to play relaxed games against Sokras, no pressure, just the challenge to beat your patient teacher. And this was the case even while their deck was pretty basic. So I decided to follow this fun and make the Skola experience a more interesting, build it out so it has even more variety and Replayability and come up with a system that is expandable in the future as well. So from now on, after reaching Student Rank 10, Sokras will bring a random gadget from their private collection to class that changes things up a bit. I also improved Sokras’ power management greatly and made it dynamically react to the cards in their deck. In the future I will keep improving Sokras’ play patterns and adding new and interesting modifications to their collection. And you know what else turned out to be gr…
- Beta Patch v.0.1.7 - 24 July 2025
I spent a lot of time this patch on the matchmaking algorithm trying to make it more resilient to errors. There is still a lot left to do but things are being learned and progress is being made. Apart from that I introduced some quality of life features I planned to put in for a while, namely being able to check what gems you and your opponent currently have socketed and to learn about the Gembearer decks from the main menu. A big balance change is that the highest Student Title is now only achieved at Student Rank 50. I plan on teaching Sokras a few new tricks, making the single player experience more interesting and this is the first step in doing so. Much more is soon to come. Balance The most prestigious Student Titles are only achieved at a much higher Student Rank. This also affects Sokras’ scaling, expanding the single player progression. This system will be developed upon soon.…
- Demo Patch v.1.0.5 - 14 July 2025
Demo Patch v.1.0.5 Even though the Student Rank scaling provided an interesting challenge, losing Student Rank can be frustrating, especially when first climbing to Elder. Therefore I made it so you no longer lose Student Rank on a loss. Furthermore, Sokras stops scaling after reaching Elder. Sokras is meant to be a sparring partner that is challenging yet possible to beat, and playing them should allow for experimentation without harsh punishment. Apart from that I discovered that it is fun and relaxing to just keep climbing and be rewarded with a steadily rising Student Rank. Balance You no longer lose Student Rank when losing against Sokras and they stop scaling after reach Elder. This allows you to continue climbing as long as you like on a challenging but beatable difficulty. To have Sokras go easier again, you can always reset the Student Rank in the main menu options. Polish Upda…
- Beta Patch v.0.1.6 - 11 July 2025
The main focus was on matchmaking and multiplayer stability this patch. As the achievements I introduced a couple of patches ago turned out to be great fun to unlock according to everyone I talked to, I added more of them and many more are still to come. I also introduced a new icon for general achievements so the colored icons can be used for gem specific achievements only. Features New achievements have been added to the game. Bug Fixes Matchmaking could run into issues when queuing at the exactly same time because players where joining each other’s lobbies. This should now be resolved. Matchmaking stopped looking for a match after maximum rating tolerance has been reached. This has been resolved and matches should now form more smoothly. Improved synchronization of game ending to avoid desyncs. Improved fail safe mechanism in case of a player disconnecting during the start of a match…
