Gruntz

Gruntz
Developer(s)	Monolith Productions
Publisher(s)	Monolith Productions
Producer(s)	Chris Hewett
Designer(s)	Kevin Lambert Nicholas Newhard Chris Hewett
Programmer(s)	Kevin Lambert
Artist(s)	Paul Renault
Writer(s)	Kevin Lambert Paul Renault
Composer(s)	Guy Whitmore
Engine	Windows Animation Package 32[1]
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	NA: March 25, 1999[2]
Genre(s)	Strategy, puzzle
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gruntz is a puzzle/strategy game for PC, developed and published in February 1999 by Monolith Productions.^[3] It is packaged with a level editor and can be played in single and multiplayer modes.

The game received mostly average to very positive reviews from critics.^[4]

The player controls a number of "Gruntz", diminutive, goblinoid creatures made of baked clay ("goo"), via the mouse. The controls are those of a typical real-time strategy game: commands are issued to Gruntz via first selecting them and then either right-clicking (causing them to move or attack) or left-clicking (for special actions such as laying bombs or digging holes).^[5]

Tools are to be picked up by Gruntz to use in battle or for puzzle solving purposes. Each tool does a certain amount of damage. The weakest tool is nothing at all, also called barehands. There are several ways of getting a barehand Grunt, which include freshly created Gruntz, or a Boomerang Grunt that forgot to catch the boomerang. The only Grunt a Barehanded can defeat is another bare hand if he strikes first. The strongest weapon is the Timebombs, which kills any Gruntz within the 1 square radius (including the Grunt himself if he's not careful). Most weapons can be used for other purposes, such as walking over spikes, swimming, breaking objects or digging holes. A grunt can only have one tool at a time.^[6]

In addition to tools, toys can be used against enemy Gruntz to force them to stop and play with the toy for a given amount of time, while the player sneaks past them. As with tools, there are numerous toys available for use. The shortest lasting toy is the yo-yo, which breaks almost instantly, leaving the Grunt little time to do anything but run away. The longest lasting toy is the Beach Ball, which take the longest to break. The only thing that works as well as a Beach Ball is the Go-Kart, which doesn't last quite as long in information terms, but the animation of the toy actually breaking is quite long, making the Go-Kart last as long as the Beach Ball. Just like tools, a Grunt can only have one Toy at a time, but he can always put his current toy down and get another one, use that toy, and return later to collect the original toy.

Powerups are collected in the same way as tools or toys, but the difference (apart from the red sparkles) is that they only last for a limited time. Most powerups will just enhance a Gruntz abilities, such as boosting his health, increasing his speed, or defending him from harm, but two of the powerups (Deathtouch and Conversion) have effects on different things. Deathtouch is a temporary tool that gives the grunt a short-range one hit kill attack that requires no recharge time like tools do, for as long as the Powerup lasts. Conversion allows a Grunt to convert any other Grunt for the rest of the game, but the converter's health continually goes down until he dies, although converting another grunt will restore health.^[7]

There are two playing modes in Gruntz, Quests and battles. A quest is where the player has to puzzle out how to get a grunt to the Warpstone, and then bring that Grunt to the King. In battles, there are 2 to 4 players. The players can be either human or computer controlled. The objective is to defeat the opponents by getting a Grunt into their fort, using a variety of different weapons. The game ends when there is one player left (or all the human players have resigned).^[8][9]

The game still garners some interest with the gaming community due to the level editor, which allows for the creation of new maps and puzzles, and quests.

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.^[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".^[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.^[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.^[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.^[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.^[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.^[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.^[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.^[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.^[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).^[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,^[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.^[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.^[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.^[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.^[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.^[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.^[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.^[17]

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

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