Gnomesplosion is a roguelike where you fire exploding gnomes at goblins
Regular Missile revealed its pachinko roguelike at the Big Break Showcase. You launch volunteer gnomes down a shifting board of ascending goblins, and the hats they wear decide whether they explode, drill or burn.
Gnomesplosion was one of the reveals at Coffee Stain's Big Break Showcase, and it is exactly as literal as the name suggests. Goblins are climbing towards you. You defend yourself by launching gnomes at them. The gnomes are volunteers. They do not survive the trip.
How it plays
Developer Regular Missile describes it as a roguelike pachinko game. Gnomes bounce down a board, ricocheting off pegs and enemies on the way, and the board itself moves and rearranges as goblins ascend towards the top, so the layout you aimed at is not necessarily the one you hit. Runs are broken up by upgrade steps that hand you more tools for tougher waves.
The hats are the build system. Each one changes what a gnome does on impact, with options to explode, drill, burn or pounce, and a travelling salesgnome will buy the hats you are not using and sell you ones you might want. That is the loop: pick a board, fire gnomes, rebuild the hat collection between levels.
Where you can find it
Gnomesplosion has a Steam page up for wishlisting and has also been available in some form on itch.io. No release date or window was announced at the showcase.
Why it matters
Peglin and Ballionaire proved there is real appetite for roguelikes built on physics and bad angles rather than combat stats. Gnomesplosion is aiming at that audience with a clearer hook than most: the projectiles have opinions, hats and a mortality rate.
Why it matters
Pachinko roguelikes have become a small, healthy genre off the back of Peglin and Ballionaire, and Gnomesplosion's hat-driven build system is a distinct spin on it rather than another clone.