Gruntz

Gruntz is a puzzle/strategy game for the PC, developed and published in February 1999 by Monolith Productions. 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.

Gameplay

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).

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.