Gemporium: A Cute Mining Sim news & patch notes

Hello Moles! ːmoelLoveː

We have a major announcement for today so I'll just jump right into it. There's three big updates we want to share with everyone:

• We've heard your requests... so here's an Anniversary Cosmetic Update!!

• Brand new content in the form of our Amber & Amulets Side Story DLC

• FINALLY Controller Support & Revamped Steam Deck support :)

Cosmetic Update? Anniversary???

That's right, many, many of you (ourselves included) have been yearning for cute little cosmetics for Moel (and the mole hole), so we're very excited to finally have hats and furniture added to the game!

Welcome to the Bazaar, your one stop shop for everything Cosmetic!

The Bazaar unlocks after you've dug deep enough in the mine, so keep your eyes peeled for an upgrade popping up in the Catalogue. Shopkeeps in the Bazaar also have a unique fondness for trading gems as opposed to taking Glimmer as payment, so it may be wise to stock up on all types of gem rarities!

What's that handcrafted stand in the back of the Bazaar you ask? Well lets just say Pietro has big aspirations..... for your wallet.

Amber & Amulets Side Story

There seems to be a shift deep in the earth, and I wonder what new adventure the bottom of the mine holds?

In this Gemporium Side Story, you'll follow a decade old mystery between two new characters, Nessie and Donella! With a couple additional hours of content, this DLC focuses on a new layer of the mines and.... panning for amber? I guess it could be good for something so best to collect as much as your pockets can hold.

Controller Support! Steam Deck!

We have official controller support and revamped steam deck controls coming to Gemporium alongside the anniversary cosmetic update! We have had many complaints about the steam deck verification for Gemporium and the lack of controller support so I would like to apologize to the community for this taking so long.

If you didn't follow the initial development of Gemporium, it started as a game jam with the core systems made in a month. We started expanding the game from there and things like Localization, Controller support and additional content were things we (at the time) were ok with ignoring. It is only due to YOU, the wonderful players, that we are able to financially support ourselves while additionally adding these things post launch. Thank you from all of us at Merge Conflict for your patience and support as this has ended up being a much larger feat than we intended.

Anniversary Update and DLC launch August 6th! ːmoelFREEDOMː

Gemporium is turning 1 year old on August 7th, and what better way to celebrate than with an update and DLC??? That's all that I can share for now but only a bit longer before the new content is in the hands of everyone! The team is very excited to show what we've been cooking and once again can't thank everyone enough for supporting our little game.

FINALLY finally just wanted to share we have sold over 50 THOUSAND copies so far which is way beyond all of our wildest dreams. We're on sale right now if you haven't decided to pick up the game yet it's at the LOWEST PRICE EVER!! :)

<3 Merge Conflict Studio

Hello Moles,

We've got another new bundle announcement for you today; we're bundling with Whisper of the House for a 10% discount!

Whisper of the House is a cozy organization and decoration game where you'll take on small tasks for people in your town, helping them with the troubles they face and discovering little stories and secrets that enrich the game's world.

If you're looking for more cozy, unwind-y games to relax with, this one's got you covered :)

Also, we're on sale for 40% off here on Steam right now! Wowow talk about deals!!!! Now's a perfect time to pick up both games if you've been interested, or if a friend has! Or family member! Or your dog! And ONE LAST THING: if you've been waiting for more from Gemporium, keep your eyes peeled 👁️👁️We might just have some more in store for later this year...

<3,

Merge Conflict Studio

Hello Moles! :moelLove: We have a very exciting announcement for everyone today...

Gemporium is getting a Cosmetic Content Update!

Yes that's right, we are adding some cosmetics to Gemporium as a part of our Super Secret Content Update coming later this year (more info coming soon). Since we have the opportunity to update the game and add some cool things, we thought what a great time to run a community cosmetic contest! For the next week we will be accepting cosmetic submissions in our discord that you can join here! :moelPoint:

Cosmetic Contest Rules:

Hello Moles! ːmoelLoveː

It has been quite a while since our last announcement, but we finally have some big news to share :))

Our next game, Pelikeeper, has a demo out now! ːmoelPointː

We're very excited to have our next game in the hands of players and we can't wait to hear your feedback!! This game is a biiit different than Gemporium but if you enjoyed that game at all we would love to see what you think about Pelikeeper.

Take a deeper look!

Pelikeeper is a Tower Defense & Base Building game that we're calling "comfort strategy" due to our goal of creating an accessible strategy game for both cozy/newer fans of the genre while also keeping the challenge that classic strategy game fans love (think Bloons meets Spiritfarer). Play as a pelican tasked with defending fallen stars, rescuing animal friends and building up your lighthouse town in our brief demo! There's 5 normal levels and one boss level, 5 different towers and animals to befriend and around an hour and thirty minutes of content. If this sounds interesting to you check it out!

If you do enjoy the game please leave us a review, as it really helps us out in the steam algorithm as well as helps us make the game better! If you would rather give us feedback directly too that's more than welcome either in the steam forums or our official discord.

In other gem related news.... let's just say that we've taken a trip back into the mines and will have more to share in the future. Stay tuned!

Thank you so much for the continuous support and we hope you all enjoy Pelikeeper!

<3 Merge Conflict Studio

Hello Moles,

We have a couple exciting announcements! A while back we mentioned that localization was something probably not in the cards for us. Well behind the scenes (with a great team helping us) I'm excited to announce:

Gemporium is now available in 9 new languages!

• Chinese (simplified and traditional)

• French

• German

• Japanese

• Portuguese (Brazil)

• Russian

• Spanish (LATAM & European Spanish)

This was a highly requested feature and we're so glad that more people can enjoy Gemporium around the world.

In addition to the new languages, we have updated the price of Gemporium to be cheaper in certain regions. Due to heavy influation and exchange rates in certain countries, we've realized that Steam's recommend pricing in certain cases is unfair, so we've decided to lower pricing for Polish złoty, Chinese Yuan, LATAM -and MENA USD to make Gemporium more accessible to players in those regions too!

New Sound Effects

Along with the new languages, we also had a HUGE sound design pass on the game and we are really happy with how things are sounding now!

Known Issues:

• One of the biggest issues with this update is that save data on the title screen is blank but we promise your saves are fine!! This will be fixed in the next few days.

Trading Cards

There are now trading cards to unlock and some backgrounds + emoji in the points shop so check it out! ːmoelFreedomː

Tiny Gem Shop Bundle

Gemporium is now bundled with another amazing shop management game, Tiny Bookshop! Go pick up the bundle!!

Gemporium in the Indie Game Awards???

We have also been nominated for the Women-Led Indie Game Award at the Indie Game Awards!! Check out the livestream later tonight:

Thank you to everyone who has supported Gemporium so far, and we are very excited to have more players around the world able to enjoy the game! We're continued to be blown away by the positive reception and feel so lucky to have so many people playing the game.

Oh and also, the steam winter sale starts today, so Gemporium is -25% off :)

OKAY FINALLY THE LAST THING is that you should check out our upcoming game Pelikeeper and wishlist!! ːmoelPointː ːmoelPointː ːmoelPointː

bye i love you ːmoelLoveː

<3 Merge Conflict Studio

Hello Moles,

We're excited to announce that we're bundling with another adorable game - My Card is Better Than Your Card for a 10% discount!

In this playful roguelike deckbuilder you craft cards using stickers, and while it's a bit different than running a gem store it is similarly addicting. Check out the bundle below to pick up another hidden gem and support a fellow indie studio!

<3 Merge Conflict Studio

Gemporium is on sale for $7.49!!

We are currently apart of Steam's Animal Fest, and have also been selected to participate in this year's upcoming Cozy Quest event! To celebrate we have put Gemporium on sale for 25% off until November 24th.

Make sure to tell all your friends and family that this is the cheapest Gemporium has ever been so don't miss out!!

Stay up to date with Merge Conflict Studio

We have some exciting things going on behind the scenes, so if you want to stay up to date make sure to sign up for our newsletter and join our Discord down below. Our next game is going to need playtesters soon just saying...

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Hello Moles!

We've just been told by Valve that Gemporium has been approved for Steam Deck Verification ✨

That's all there really is to share, and this update shouldn't impact your game at all (besides some minor bug fixes) unless you're running on a Steam Deck!

Also, if you've been waiting to pick up Gemporium on Steam Deck maybe wait a biiit longer as the Steam Autumn Sale is just around the corner... 👀

<3

Merge Conflict Studio

Click to Move

Other

Hello Moles, we've reached another incredible milestone in just over a week!

Thank you for 19k copies sold!!!

We have been overjoyed and frankly blown away at the positive reception for our little game, so from the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you. It's only been a week since launch and we've surpassed all of our goals for this game by a long shot! It's very surreal to have this many people like what we made :)

We've pushed a few hotfixes and a patch to address some user feedback, but we know there are some greater questions being asked by the fans:

Controller support?

We would love to add controller support, and know it is one of the most requested features! While we are still unsure of how long we want to continue working on Gemporium, this is something we would like to work on in the coming months.

Steam Deck Verification?

This is also highly requested, and we would love to get Gemporium steam deck verified! We don't have a timeline as of now but stay tuned for more information.

Localization?

Unfortunately due to our size and scope of the project, we didn't set out to localize the game and most likely won't be adding it in the future.

More Content?

To be honest, we don't know! It's great to see so many people become invested in the game but don't want to make any promises that may or may not happen. If there are any plans for additional content or updates we will be sure to update the community!

What's Next?

We're taking a vacation! A much needed rest is in order for us to recharge and relax after shipping a game. We'll be back in 2 weeks but expect for us to be a bit silent while we get back into the swing of things. If you reeeeaally want a teaser though.....

<3

Merge Conflict Studio

Hello moles,

We have a new patch, v1.0.7 available for Gemporium! We wanted to focus on some of the feedback we've been getting regarding loan shark frequency, as well as some other bug fixes and quality of life.

Check out the patch notes:

New Features

• Reduced Debt Collection Mode

  • This mode allows you to play with less stress than the base game, limiting the loan shark visits to once a week. The loan shark will now only visit on Saturdays as apposed to Saturdays and Wednesdays.

• High Contrast Text

  • New accessibility option is available for those who have a hard time reading certain text in the game

Bug fixes / balance changes

• The loan shark now mentions the fact that Grandmole left you 1 million glimmer to pay off

• $ signs across the game were replaced with the symbol for Glimmer

• Reworded some of the upgrades to be clearer and more concise

• Added a confirmation screen when starting a new game to avoid confusion with overriding saves

• Added plaques to the artifact collections that hint toward their rewards + changes to display said reward once the collection is unlocked

• Changed the trash icon in the gem bag to an actual trash can

• The tutorial for “Uncool Customers” now plays if the first customer of the shop is an uncool customer

• Slightly tweaked artifact generation to make it more consistent

• Rewrote the loan repayment info screen to be more concise and descriptive

• The letter description for early loan repayment will now automatically open the first time you access the early repayment table

• *your (dialogue typo fixed)

• Replaced \ icon with a trash can in the gem bag for more clarity

• Added SFX to gem bag trash can for player feedback

• Moved some rocks in the mines that could softlock the player

• Fixed an issue where mouse input would skip incomplete lines of dialogue

• Fixed an issue where tooltips would sometimes get stuck on the cursor when starting a new game

• Fixed an issue that caused chatter’s messages to not appear in the shop when using Twitch Integration

• Fixed the resolution menu not accurately displaying all possible resolutions

• Fixed an issue with the early bird bonus not being accurately applied to the next loan payment & the total debt remaining

• Music Balance

• Fixed visual bug with the gem tumbler that caused it to replay the animation of the gems flying into your inventory

We hope that this new setting eases some of the stress that players have been feeling, without changing the base game for those who enjoy the current balance!

Thank you once again for a great launch week, and we are now sitting at almost 300 reviews! If you have played the game and feel like you have something to say, consider leaving a review! Not only does it help us see what people think, but it really helps our team by giving an accurate representation of the game to other steam users.

With that being said, now it is time for Merge Conflict to take a much needed post-launch rest. We'll be back in a couple weeks, so see you then!

<3 Merge Conflict Studio

WOW!!!!

WE HIT 10K COPIES IN 3 DAYS.

What started as a month long project has evolved into so much more, and we couldn't be happier and more thankful for all of the players and fans who got us to this point. As a newer studio, the 5 of us wanted to try a new development style with Gemporium, something we could do quickly and sustainably as we transitioned into game development full time. Now Gemporium has exceeded all of our expectations and done so much better than we could have ever anticipated thanks to you <3

💎 THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR PLAYING!! 💎

-

Merge Conflict Studio

Hello Moles,

Firstly, all of us here at Merge Conflict Studio want to say THANK YOU so much for your overwhelming support of Gemporium! It's been better than we ever imagined and means the world to us. YOU'RE THE BEST! <3

Secondly, we've greatly appreciated your feedback on the game and are looking into ways to address some of the most common points that have been brought up. Some of these include:

• Loan Shark visits being overwhelming

  We want to find a way to help players who feel overwhelmed by the Loan Shark's visits feel more equipped to keep up with them while not sacrificing the intended structure and experience of the game. If you'd like a quick tip for this just for now: try completing an Artifact collection if you haven't!

• Unclear details of Early Repayment Plan

  We've noticed that some players have been a bit confused by how the Early Repayment Plan works, especially with regards to why they still have to make payments on Loan Shark days after using it. The TL;DR on it is that the Loan Shark will always ask for some minimum payment on scheduled days, but you can reduce this amount significantly with the Early Repayment Plan. Past this minimum, any payments you make will only reduce your total debt rather than your next payment. We're hoping to increase clarity on this! There is a UI element that's meant to let you know when you've hit the minimum, but we've noticed some bugs with this and are hoping to fix this up.

• Lack of Controller Support

  This one will likely take longer to address because it's a fairly involved endeavor, but we've absolutely heard everyone asking for it and would like to add it at some point in the future.

• General Bugs

  We appreciate your bug reports and have a list of some we want to prioritize fixing first, including one with one of the Achievements.

There's more stuff on our list that we'd like to address, but we wanted to call these out specifically.

We really appreciate your patience as we work on all this! We are a small team of five and worked within a short development timeline to finish this game, but want to do our best to provide everyone with the best version of Gemporium possible.

Thanks and as always, good luck in the Mines!

The Merge Conflict Team

Hello moles,

LAUNCH DAY IS HERE!!

For those of you planning to purchase Gemporium, thank you for supporting our studio! If you have the time, please leave a review if you enjoyed (or didn't enjoy!) the game! It really helps us out in the steam algorithm and there is a ton of other great titles coming out today, this week and this month. Reaching 10 reviews as fast as possible makes Steam favor our game and helps us pay rent feed cheeto!

<3

Merge Conflict Studio

Hello moles! ⛏️

We're getting close to the launch of Gemporium (next week!) and wanted to share the price of the game with everyone.

💎 Gemporium will cost $9.99! 💎

Below we have a detailed list of the exact price in each country.

FAQ

Why $9.99?

We debated on what would be a fair price for a while, and decided that this price was not only fair to customers but high enough that we can reliably feed Cheeto (and ourselves).

Isn't it too cheap?

All indie games are a bit too cheap, and if you're in this boat and would like to support us further, consider purchasing the Supporter Pack when we launch for some sweet cosmetics!

The supporter pack will only be a couple of extra dollars priced at $2.99.

Isn't it too expensive?

We believe that this price is fair for the amount of game content you are receiving! In case $10 is too high a price for you, we will be running a launch discount so consider picking it up within the first 2 weeks.

Full Price List:

USD - $9.99

GB Pounds - £8.50

Euros - €9.75

Russian Rubles - руб.385

Brazilian Reals - R$26.99

Japanese Yen - ¥1,200

Indonesian Rupiah - Rp90,999

Malaysian Ringgit - RM26.75

Philippine Peso - P335.00

Singapore Dollar - S$10.00

Thai Baht - ฿220.00

Vietnamese Dong - ₫142,000

Korean Won - ₩11,000

Ukrainian Hryvnia - ₴225

Mexican Peso - Mex$123.99

Canadian Dollar - CDN$12.99

Australian Dollar - A$14.50

New Zealand Dollar - NZ$14.75

Norwegian Krone - kr110.00

Polish zloty - zł45.99

Swiss Francs - CHF10.99

Chinese Yuan - ¥42.00

Indian Rupee - ₹480

Chilean Peso - CLP$5,750

Peruvian Sol - S/.23.00

Colombian Peso - COL$26,000

South African Rand - R100.00

Hong Kong Dollar - HK$66.00

Taiwanese Dollar - NT$188

Saudi Arabian Riyal - SR22.49

Emirati Dirham - AED29.00

Israeli New Shekel - ₪36.95

Kazakhstani Tenge - ₸2,900

Kuwaiti Dinar - KD1.95

Qatari Rial - QR24.99

Costa Rican Colon - ₡4,600

Uruguayan Peso - $U310

That's right, Gemporium is launching in 2 weeks!

Wow, it has been an incredible journey to get to this point and we are so excited to share the full Gemporium experience with you in just a couple of weeks! Since starting the development of Gemporium late last year, to launching a demo in February (shout out to all the demo players and ones who left us amazing feedback) and now participating in events like Wholesome Direct, Steam Next Fest and Secret Sauce, we have come such a long way and made many improvements to the game while having fun developing it.

In case you missed it, check out the release date trailer that premiered during the Secret Sauce Showcase:

That's all we have to share today, but we also wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! To all the people who have spread the game to their friends, talked to us at conventions, joined our discord, playtested the game, played the demo, left a review or even just wishlisted the game, we couldn't have done it without you. Every little bit helps, especially since we are a tiny team of 5 working on this game. Seeing all the reactions, excitement, and positivity surrounding the game inspires and motivates us to continue working as hard as we can to make this game the best it can possibly be.

We're so excited to get this game out to y'all, but now it is time for us to Lock In. The next 2 weeks will be a blur so see you on the other side!

<3

Merge Conflict Studio

Hello moles,

Just a quick patch for today! We heard y'all and...

We have changed the sound effect for polishing gems.

It's lower-pitched and hopefully a lot easier on the ears for those who found the old one grating.

Thanks as always for your support and we hope you continue to enjoy the demo!

Hello moles,

We have found 3 hidden gems participating in Steam Next Fest that we think you should check out! If you enjoyed the Gemporium Demo, we think you would like these games as well :)

My Card is Better Than Your Card:

Become the coolest kid of the playground in this playful roguelike deckbuilder.

Join the Utu Studios Discord!

Draggin':

Capture Draggins by draggin' the mouse in this casual arcade roguelite!

Follow Draggin' on TikTok!

Not Monday Cafe:

Grow fresh ingredients, cook, and serve delicious food to adorable animal customers in this cozy, idle, cafe management game!

Join the Not Monday Club Discord!

Hello moles,

We have a quick patch that will address some issues people have reported as well as some QOL improvements.

Changes:

• Added Arrow Keys as a movement option

• Added a popup when starting a new game to notify players of Cozy Mode

• Reduced the volume of SFX when polishing gems

• Fixed a bug that allowed the player to haggle with a customer without a gem on the register

Demo Version 2.0 is Live RIGHT NOW!!!

We're very excited to have a brand new revamped version of the Gemporium Demo available for Steam Next Fest! If you aren't able to check it out before the end of Next Fest, don't worry because the demo will still be available :)

Patch Notes:

New Content

• Added an improved intro to the game

• Redid the interior of the player's home

• Added more upgrades to purchase

• Added an Artifact Collection to complete

• Added Endless mode: After reaching day 10 you are now able to continue your save and keep playing as long as you would like

• Added Haggling: buying the Haggle upgrade gives you a chance to change what gem a customer likes

• Added Upcoming Customer UI to the shop

• Added a couple more tutorials

Balance/Other:

• Overhauled the Mines: there are multiple floors and limited mining spots that are regenerated each day (instead of generating each time you enter the mine)

• Mine Integrity: there are new hazards that when hit multiple times collapse the mining vein

• Refinement QTE minigame enhancements & polish

• Improvements to the Shop layout and Shop Reputation UI

• Balanced the gem and upgrade prices

• Accessibility Settings: Reduce Camera Shake and VFX Intensity

• Lots and lots of bugfixes!

Play the Demo and Wishlist Gemporium:

Thank you to everyone who's supported us already, and we're excited to kick off next fest with a large update! If you've enjoyed the demo we would really appreciate it if you tell your friends and leave us a review to help us out at the start of Steam Next Fest :)

- Merge Conflict Studio <3

What's new

• We were featured in the Six One Indie Steam event!
• We recently showcased at DreamHack Dallas and received an Audience Choice award!
• Gemporium is starting to be covered by some large content creators 👀
• Finally, a new version of the demo is in the works with tweaks based on feedback and new content

Summer Plans

Our current art sucks.

Sneak a peek at the new art:

Version 1.2 Patch Notes

Additions and Misc. Changes

• Added a new tutorial system! When you start a new save, you will now be asked if you want to do the tutorial. The new tutorial takes place on “Day 0” with no timer running to give you more breathing room to get accustomed to everything in the game.
• Added a tutorial popup that lets you know you can return to the mines multiple times a day for new gems.
• Added animations to tutorial popups opening and closing.
• Added an arrow that bounces over areas you’re being prompted to use in the tutorial to make sure you don’t miss ‘em.
• Touched up performance! There should now be less occasional stutters, which we observed was happening for some players.
• Slightly increased the buffer time between when buttons linking to external pages on the “Thanks for playing” screen are revealed and when they can be clicked.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where if you just finished refining a gem, you could place another already-refined gem on the table and the gem would get huge and cover the whole screen. Glad we stomped that one :)
• Fixed an issue where if you didn’t close a tutorial popup and reentered the area that activated it, you could get a duplicate of that popup.
• Fixed an issue where the TV would reactivate automatically every time you reentered the main Hub.
• Did some UI cleanup for ultrawide monitors in some scenes.

Version 1.1 Patch Notes

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where multiple mining spots would generate over each other, leading to a "phantom" spot that either looked interactable or stayed lit after it was used
• Fixed the weird collision issues with stone fragments in the refinement minigame
• Fixed a bug where leaving and entering the mines quickly would put a tiny gem on the floor
• Fixed a bug where dragging an already refined gem into the refinement spot would make it cover the entire screen
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to continue mining for gems while the game was paused
• Fixed a bug where sometimes the gem bag upgrade wasn't functioning properly
• Fixed a bug with audio settings not loading correctly

Balance Changes

• Day length as well as shop length has been extended
• Day 1 now has a special longer length to help with onboarding
• Added a new timer ticking sound when getting close to shop time
• Added a blinking indicator to Bernard's Upgrade Catalogue, the mines entrance, the refinement table and shop to give newer players more direction
• Gems can no longer be picked up when the bag is full
• Gem bag will give you a notification when it is full
• Reworded some of the tutorial popups for clarity
• Reduced the range a hammer can damage a gem to prevent it from feeling unfair
• Increased the amount of gem veins that will spawn in the mine

Casual Mode