Find the Gnome

Find the Gnome is a top-down hidden object game centered around gnomes.

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TL;DR at bottom

Gameplay:

Find the Gnome is a top-down 3D hidden object game where you have to find “weird” gnomes within different levels. The Steam store page claims that there are 13 levels and 4 story levels. While this is technically true (this matches up on the map), the fourth story level and two of the 13 levels are not in the game yet, even though it is in version 1.0.1. The story is very basic, it is at least coherent but it isn’t very interesting. As for the additional levels, they are extremely short and present no challenge whatsoever, as you basically just click on every gnome you see as fast as possible.

Gameplay is very simple, you must simply find all of the gnomes who are out of place in the environment. There is a whopping total of three different gnomes: a normal gnome, a teleporting gnome, and a gnome that respawns gnomes you have previously caught. They don’t provide a huge difference in experience, but it is nice to at least have some variation. The one mechanic that was intuitive and surprising to see in a game like this was the ability to “stress” weird gnomes by putting your mouse pointer near them. This is a pretty cool feature and it makes the levels less agonizing to complete, at least the story levels.

5/10

Graphics:

The graphics in Find the Gnome aren’t that great. The levels are very undetailed and bland, and the world map is extremely basic. The UI is extremely simple, but it works. Textures are clean and simple, and the colors make the environments nice to look at, even though they are pretty empty. The presentation on the store page is less than appealing, however. It makes the game look very unprofessional and cheap.

4/10

Music/Audio:

Music is sub-par, it is most likely royalty free music (however, I got a copyright claim on my video for a sound clip). It at least makes the game somewhat entertaining to play since it isn’t awkward silence. The sound effects are pretty bad though. They are lackluster and pretty poorly executed where they are implemented. Sound design definitely isn’t this game’s strong suit.

4/10

Conclusion:

Find the Gnome is okay. It is very, very short; it can be completed in probably half an hour or less. The graphics are okay, gameplay is okay, sound is not very okay. This might be able to keep you entertained for half an hour or so while you’re waiting for a better game to download, but it certainly is not worth the $2.99 price tag it bears right now. If you can get it very cheap or free, then it might be worth trying out, especially if you like hidden object games. At this price though, I can’t recommend it.

Overall: 4.5/10 - Not Recommended

TL;DR

Pros:

+Interesting object finding mechanic

+Okay, colorful graphics

Cons:

-Extremely short

-All story content and levels are not available yet

-Poor sound design

-Minimal replayability

Check out my gameplay of Find the Gnome below to get a better idea of the game.