Gremlins, Inc.

Gremlins, Inc.

106 ratings
Know your character
By Mister Pazel
This guide will take an semi in-depth look on characters in Gremlins.inc and their possible playstyles, so after reading this, you will know, what NOT to do if you end up with the Damned one. :D

If you ever played a ranked game, you will know that you can choose between (currently) 3 characters at the start of the game. Some people have their favourites, some people choose randomly, but most people choose the "strongest" ones because they want to win. In my opinion, every class is strong, if you know how to play it, but some are natively easier to win with than the others (looking at you - ialwayshavemonyguy aka gambler :D)

I will try to rate the indivitual characters into 3 categories which are:
- difficulty to play aka how much "skill" do you need to win :D
- recovery speed aka how screwed you are if someone ♥♥♥♥♥ with your plans
- annoyance aka how pissed off your opponents will be when they see your guy at start

and to simplyfy the ratings, i will be just doing the "easy, medium, hard", "fast, medium, slow" and "low, medium, high" stats...

Feel free to comment your strategies and/or correct my grammar mistakes, I am not a native English speaker, so i will be grateful.

So lets get to it :D
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The Engineer aka "The Governor"
- difficulty: easy
- recovery speed: medium
- annoyance: medium

WHAT TO DO: Engineer has several obvious advantages that can get him easy win if he has money. So, if you pick this guy, you should be mentaly prepared that people will try to ANNIHILATE your economy. In this case, its votes that you need. You should always aim to be a governor, mainly because then you have nice little pay-free access to the astral plane in which almost every gear card is procing your +1 gear ability. The second nice thing about governor is that you can take bribes which, if my foretold fate of Engineers is true, will help you grind money for plant/quests/armageddon clock? :D.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Dont rush money->plant, especially at early game. You will almost always end up in jail, or misfortuned to the point you couldnt afford that shiny Golly Gosh Mashine. Peoples eyes widen with fear every time they see engineer taking his way into plant with more than 300 money, so the best tactic, if you really want to build something in plant, is to either use a 5-6 move card from bank/office or "Fast and fair" card, but this only applies if you have a ton of money, which as i said earlier, if happens, you have almost guaranteed win.
The Politician aka the "I will eventually be the Governor"
- difficulty: medium
- recovery speed: slow
- annoyance: low

WHAT TO DO: Politician is one of those guys that people dont know how to feel about. That means they will not focus you just because you picked him which opens you up the way to grind up some income and money. The thing with politician is that he has no obvious winning strategy(well, if we dont count the Governor business in his stats, but noone wins the game simply because he is Governor), so you can work around almost anything. I recommend working around office and plant/casino because selling votes is the easiest and least punishable way of making money for you(selling +1 income for 100 money is a good deal dont you think?).

WHAT NOT TO DO: Do not gamble unless you have poseur. Do not sell gears unless you are really desperate or you are "trading" them(sell curio, sell gear). STAY AWAY FROM INFERNO AND ASTRAL PLANE UNLESS YOU KNOW YOU WILL WIN!!! I know those inferno and astral cards are really good, but getting into astral plane requires a lot of preparation even when you are Governor, and going into inferno requires going trough misfortunes and as we all know, misfortunes are the easiest way of losing a ton of votes(thats why i told you not to gamble unless poseur). As i said, Politician can work with almost any card, so WORK WITH THEM!!!
The Manager aka the "True Rogue of Gremlin city"
- dificulty: hard
- recovery speed: fast
- annoyance: low

WHAT TO DO: You think the thief and secret agent are sneaky little bastards? Well, here we have our nice innocent man in blue. This little dude wanders around town, collects every scrap you leave behind yourself and then BOOM! 20 gears out of nowhere! And i am not talking about the Destroyer :D His ability to combo cards is insane, when you have the necessary luck and the best thing is, that you have free votes to sell at your office. He can switch all unnecesary/annoying cards at risk spots(you know, the orange ones noone is paying money at...), so no pesky cursed swords or toxic wastes to slow you down on your path of gear collecting. And the best thing? People really dont mind you unless you pull out some crazy combos in the early game... And if you do, well, whatever... you can recover from almost anything... Recommended strategy: Classic... build economy, then combo like a boss! :D

WHAT NOT TO DO: Do not be a jerk unless you have to in order not to lose. People dont hate you and you want it to stay that way. Votes mean money to you, but you can pass on beign a Governor without much of a drawback. Just slowly grind those cards...
The Pauper aka "The true Evil"
- difficulty: easy
- recovery speed: medium
- annoyance: high

WHAT TO DO: Pauper is one of those guys people will beat the ♥♥♥♥ out the moment he pulls out something at the dump or at casino. And there is a reason for that. He is the master exploiter draining money from everyone and everything. "So i should grind money when i play him right?" NO! I said he is draining, not collecting money and that is what you should do... You are something like Gamblers little, annoying brother, so you will never have problem with money even if your income is at 0. Playing around dump/treasury and casino is really recommended and obvious, but do not forget about that nice green place between those two. Yes, i am talking about marketplace... Easy way to gain money and to screw with people... Also, if you get a quest that doesnt require money, you are free to go try and go to Astral plane. People will focus you no mater what, so its worth a shot.

WHAT NOT TO DO: As i said above: Do not grind income! you dont really need it. The only good way to grind income is by playing bank cards, which are good overall and should be played with every class... Also, i dont recommend him playing nice, although its possible. You will get so much ♥♥♥♥ from other people its not worth it in the long run unless you are lucky on vote giving cards and vote quests...
The Gambler aka The "I am the winner no matter what you do"
- difficulty: medium
- recovery speed: fast
- annoyance: high

WHAT TO DO: This guy... I cant even... Okay, lets face it. Unless you screw up or misfortunes get you hard, you have everything you want. Income? I dont need that. Votes? Easy money! There is almost no way to stop a lucky Gambler, only to slow him down and thats what people will try to do. To slow you down enough to outrun you. A good player knows that he cannot destroy Gambler alone, so he tries to build/make him discard cards that provide him mobility, so he cant have them. Because mobility is the only thing Gambler needs. So you as Gambler should focus on finding the mobility cards like "Accelerator" or "Fast and fair" and make a ton of money along the way. Casino cards also help a lot and "Risk-o-matic-30" is your best friend. Gamble everywhere!

WHAT NOT TO DO: Dont keep criminal cards in your hand. I know they are hard to dispose of, but they can get you into jail and that means slowing down your play. I know this is obvious for any class except maybe thief and damned one, but its twice as important to stay clean for Gambler, because sadly, playing nice will not guarantee you fredom from beign screwed with and as i said, slow Gambler is the loser.
The Damned aka "The Deprived"
- difficulty: hard
- recovery speed: medium
- annoyance: medium

WHAT TO DO: This guy is like playing Dark Souls with a deprived character. You have nothing except a strong will to beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of everyone and everything. So thats what i recommend you to do. Treasury will be your favourite location not just because of the money, but because of all the possibilities of screwing up the people. You can play misfortune cards on risk spots and there are a lot of them around treasury, and there are some nice little cards that screw with people on top of that. Your next favourite spot will be the marketplace. Easy income from gears and also a lot of ways to screw up with people. Dump is also good, but i wouldnt go there unless you are escaping from jail(duh) or have "Stash" card.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Do not play nice(duh). The best thing that can happen to you is to become the Governor, but you need to get it other ways(thats what the usurper card is here for :D). Also, building economy is good, but i wouldnt aim for it even in the early game. Money from treasury should cover all your needs... Also dont go for Inferno every time you get an Inferno card in your hand...
The Banker aka The "Piñata"
- difficulty: easy
- recovery speed: slow
- annoyance: medium

WHAT TO DO: This sad, fat, little guy looks so overpowered "on paper", people will be giving ♥♥♥♥ to you just because you picked him. The truth is, he can make a fortune, but not right away. As with the Engineer, be mentaly prepared to have your economy destroyed by other players. But unlike Engineer, you need to fight back. You NEED that income in order to score gears, or be very lucky on money giving cards. Your goal is to play big, juicy cards at plant, but play slow. Build that economy simmilary to manager building the cards for his grand finale. when you have around 100 income, you are good to proceed into phase two - the big plays. Bank/treasury, office, plant and marketplace are your favourite spots and you should always try to end up on income spot.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Dont be a jerk! Dont play big gears at start! Dont interfere with the Governor competition! Always pay the bribes to Police! Basically pretend that you dont exist untill you have that sweet 100+ income. Jail is your worst enemy, but if you end up in it, always act bad. you can either escape to the dump and then visit your favourite marketplace or you can get money from the stay.
The Collector aka "THE Collector"
- difficulty: easy
- recovery speed: slow
- annoyance: low(at start)

WHAT TO DO: The Collector is the most peaceful class in the game, untill he starts to collect permanents. Then suddenly everyone hates you(they will even forget about banker/pauper in the team, i am not kidding...). You are starting at one of the best spots in game and if you have an affordable bank card, you are set to the good start. You can even manage to get an early Sacrifice with that Lucky Potion, if you have a misfortune card, but i wouldnt recommend doing that. Your goal is obvious and kind of easy: you collect permanent cards. And i mean any permanent card. It raises your income and has nice boosts on top of that. And most of them are cheap(under 400). Dont worry, gears will come along with them.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Do not try to play expensive permanent cards in early, its not worth it in the long run. The only thing it will do is it will piss people off. Then you will be mostly in jail and your stuff will be eventualy taken from you... Also do not screw with people unless you have to.
The Secret Agent aka The "Stop investigating me every time you get a police card ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!"
- difficulty: hard
- recovery speed: fast
- annoyance: low

WHAT TO DO: The Secret Agent is the most card-dependant class in the game. He benefits the most from secrets so treasury, marketplace, bank and office will be your favourite places. My recommended playstyle of this guy is combination of Gambler and Collector playstyles, which means to try to quickly gain money, then spend them on cheap permanents. Secrets help a lot with that matter and later in game, you can play big gears at the plant without any problem. Economy building is optional. But there is this one little thing. Everyone thinks that you are hiding something. You Will Be Investigated A Lot. So keep that in mind.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Act good in jail. Seriously, its not worth it. You are there only for two turns, so why not get something from it?
The Merchant aka The "Leeroy Jenkins"
- difficulty: hard
- recovery speed: medium
- annoyance: low

WHAT TO DO: Merchant truly is the high risk, high reward class. Your goal is to play big, but as it is with Banker and Engineer, you need to build up the economy first. Or trade gears. His ability of gaining 300 money from selling gears is so underestimated by people, its laughable. You can basicaly make 250 money from a curio. Thats a jackpot right there! Also, he has the best mobility in game and ability to ignore misfortunes, so trips to Inferno are like a walk in the park. And thats where i want to bring your attention when playing this guy. Always consider going to Inferno if you get a "good" Inferno card and you are relatively close, trust me, its worth it.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Well, as i said, you have to take risks to be good at this class, so there is nothing i wouldnt recommend except not trying to combo cards. You have insane mobility, so use it.
The Prosecutor aka The "Dark Knight"
- difficulty: hard
- recovery speed: medium
- annoyance: medium

WHAT TO DO: This guy is the Gamblers worst enemy. The only purpose of Prosecutor is to make a life of others a living hell(yes, even the damned one fears him). He will destroy everything you built and gain benefits from it. The only downside to him is that his economic potential is kind of weak, so he really needs to screw up people in order not to fall behind too much(yes, he is an attention ♥♥♥♥♥). You need to work around votes, so court, office and marketplace are your favourite places. Becoming the Governor will bring you the ability to take bribes, which will fuel your economy, so i recommend investing in elections.

WHAT NOT TO DO: Dont play like a Politician. You need votes much more than he does. In some cases, where you are unlucky on money giving cards, votes will be more important to you than money, because you are the guy, that benefits from them the most(for others they are just money, or governor post, for you, they are power). I am not saying to forget about economy, i am just saying that you shouldnt focus on it.
The Thief aka The "Everyone thinks i play like the Damned"
- difficulty: medium
- recovery speed: fast
- annoyance: high

WHAT TO DO: The thief is something like a Gambler mixed with Secret Agent, which sounds scary enough, am i right? This means you will be investigated a lot, but unlike Secret Agent, you dont mind that. Even if it sends you to jail, you have already a nice jail career going for you which you can use to gain money and votes and then play some big gears. You can provoke people to go in fight with you and take the money to jail with you, or straight up steal from them, so economy aspect means almost nothing to you. Also the +1 gear from playing criminal cards is a nice little touch to your almost Gambler level strong money making aspect. Nothing beats the feeling of "Jailbreak"+"Toxic Waste"ing after beign sent to Jail from a "Set Up" card... :D

WHAT NOT TO DO: Do not try to play nice. You can try to become a governor in simmilar fashion to the Damned one, or not to try at all... If your luck is at least decent, you will make so much money, you wouldnt need to be a Governor. Other than that, you are free to do whatever you want :D
8 Comments
Ystraight 29 Dec, 2021 @ 9:49am 
Very useful
jack_was 13 Nov, 2017 @ 11:41am 
There were some adjustments concerning 3 characters: the Merchant, the Damned and the Gambler. The first two got new skill each while some abilities of the third gremlin changed.
The Merchant earns 50 money when the player loses their turn regardless of the reason (playing specific movement card or taking a break at the Plant/Astral Plane, getting a misfortune or being decelerated). It lets you regain some additional money while skipping a turn and losing some malice. Movement cards which slow down your pace now include a compensation and fortunately fall into categories which can be used to safely pass misfortune and bribe spots.
Melwryn 21 Oct, 2017 @ 5:19pm 
Just started the game and this guide has been a tremendous help to grasp the mechanics!
Thank you very much for your work! :)
CharterOak 4 Jul, 2017 @ 8:51am 
Oh, and the manager should always be good in Jail. If he is in jail enough that being bad would have been a good idea, then he will not win regardless.
CharterOak 4 Jul, 2017 @ 8:42am 
I play the manager a lot and one thing to generally avoid is the inferno, because it has you discarding your whole hand and redrawing. This is bad for a manager because if you are playing him right the manager should have a personally chosen set of cards meant to specifically take advantage of where you are on the map or the cards you drew. Discarding and redrawing a random hand throws all that work out the window. Also make sure that if you have teleport cards that you have a plan for them. Don't just hold them without a plan, IMO. You have two choices, build a hand around those teleports, or build a hand around where you are on the map. If you are taking the second option then the teleports are superfluous as they will move you out of your plan.
What you SHOULD do? Land on those risks as often as possible. If you have no other obvious moves hit a risk and continue to craft the perfect hand. It's what he does and it's fun. :)
jack_was 21 Jun, 2017 @ 2:23am 
It is good that someone decided to share their thoughts. I think that these analysis could be expanded in a way which advises how to efficiently beat the challenges prepared for part of the characters (including the means of countering the skills of the opponents).
EdenStarGazer 16 May, 2017 @ 1:12pm 
Very helpful guide for me. I find it a great resource when first attempting a new game as a new character. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there. :cheatdice::cards:
1978 FIFA World Cup knockout sta 16 Apr, 2017 @ 5:39pm 
Maybe add a section that lists the perks of each, so people will have an EXCELLENT understanding when you mention it