I Don't Know Why It Took Me So Long to Play Gemporium but I Love It

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to play something from my backlog and happened to pick up Gemporium after having it in my library for quite a while. I was pretty much hooked instantly despite its simplistic gameplay loop. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down and wondered why it had taken me so long to pick it up in the first place. 

Gemporium is a mining sim where you play as a cute little mole, living in his grandmole’s home who has suddenly found himself in charge of his grandmole’s gem selling business. A nice, little visit soon turns into something of a stressful situation for him. You must follow a strict schedule or risk the Loan Shark taking all of your money! 

The main gameplay loop is very simple. When you wake up at the beginning of the day, you’ll head into your grandmole’s mine and mine for gems using a hammer or drill. When you find a spot where the gem is located, a new screen will pop up and you’ll use your tools to find where the gem is hidden. If you’re not careful, you may crack the gem, lessening its value. Once your backpack is full, you’ll head back up to clean your gems, sell them in your shop to make money and pay off your loans when you’re able. 

Each gem is worth a certain amount of money and each customer that comes into your shop will have a gem they want and a gem they don’t want. Sell them the gem they want and they may just give you a higher price then what you’ve asked for, but give them a gem they hate and you may have a pretty unhappy customer. It’s worth matching as many customers with their favored gem as possible to make as much money as you can or risk not being able to make your loan payment date. 

Thankfully, there are a few tools at your disposal to help you out. The TV for example, is an upgrade that you buy that lets you know what the most popular gem of the day will be. And then, there are tools that let you see what gem you’ll uncover in the mine so you can look for specific gems that will get you the most money. The more you progress, the more you’ll be able to strategize to ensure that you’re working efficiently and making the most money. 

The loan shark adds a bit of stress to the game, but nothing too bad happens if you can’t make your payment. You just have to add interest on your next payment. Thankfully you can unlock a way to make payments in advance of your due date, which can shave off some of the amount that you owe. And, if you prefer a more relaxed game, you can turn on cozy mode to remove the game’s timer.

At first, I found Gemporium’s gameplay loop to be quite simplistic. Mine gems, clean them, sell them and repeat. But it’s really once you start buying upgrades and realize how efficient you can make your business, that things come together. I found myself fully hooked after only four or five in- game days and can now understand why folks have been talking about the game since its release in August 2025. 

Gemporium is available now on Steam where there is a demo available if you’d like to try it out before purchasing.