Burglin' Gnomes Tips and Tricks
Each entry below is one mechanic, what it costs you, and the build it was last checked against. Filter by category or difficulty to narrow the list, and use the anchor beside any heading to link straight to a single tip.
Bestiary
#The scream is your window, so turn and face it
A successful slap knocks you down instead of killing you, and explosives or heavy melee work if you would rather not run. The scream is the tell, so the moment you hear it you already know where it is and roughly how long you have.
Checked against Current build
Weapons
#You do not have to wait on the Smacker to fight back
Boxing gloves, pickaxes, the flashlight, and the Marble Gun all work as counters, so use whatever the run has already handed you. Early heists feel hard mostly because players hold off, waiting to craft one specific stick before engaging anything.
Checked against Current build
Stealth
#The space just behind your cover is where they look first
Put solid geometry between you and the threat, then keep moving instead of settling in behind it. The first hiding spot you reach is the first one anything hunting you will check, and being cornered there costs a second gnome to retrieve you.
Checked against Current build
#No trick ends a chase once one has started
Leave with an escape direction already chosen instead of picking one under pressure. Treat any awareness above passive patrol as a signal to move, not to hide in place, because distance you build before you are spotted is worth more than any hiding spot.
Checked against Current build
Karma
#Every kill you did not have to make is Karma paid for nothing
There are three cases worth the cost: a task requires it, you need the drop, or evasion has already failed and something stands between you and the exit. Everything outside those three is escalation you bought without buying anything with it.
Checked against Current build
Runs
#One bad night sends the whole campaign back to Day 1
The severity of that penalty is exactly why a save-management mod is among the most popular community downloads for this game. If losing a long run to a single mistake sounds intolerable to you, that option exists and plenty of players use it.
Checked against Current build
Stealth
#Assume the Old Man sees you whenever nothing is between you
Detection is binary and never gradual, so treat a clear sightline across a room as the same thing as being seen. Break the line first and worry about noise second, because a pursuer that never had eyes on you has nothing to chase.
Checked against Current build
Home Base
#Furniture is paid for in raw materials, not a currency pool
A Chair costs 1 Grabble, a Table 2, and the rest sit in the same range, so furniture is something you buy in passing and never something you save toward. Gnomium is the currency that actually gates progression, and the High-Gnome only awards it for tasks.
Checked against Current build
Home Base
#Gnomium is awarded for tasks and never found in a house
The High-Gnome hands it over for completing what it asked, so searching rooms for it is time spent on something that does not spawn. Tier 2 costs 2 Gnomium, Tier 3 costs 3, and Tier 4 costs 4, each alongside crafted materials.
Checked against Current build
Runs
#Secure your assigned tasks before you go hunting valuables
Tasks are what pay the Gnomium your base upgrades run on, and a game over sends every bit of that progress back to Day 1. A run full of high-value loot and no completed tasks has bought you nothing that survives the night.
Checked against Current build
Upgrades
#Carry slots are the upgrade that changes your run economy most
Encumbrance is what limits every early heist, and two more slots means fewer trips back, which means less time exposed inside the house. Nothing else you can buy early moves the maths this far in one purchase.
Checked against Current build
Achievements
#The game has no Steam achievements, so there is no 100 percent
Fobri works solo, and engine stability and content have come first. Confirmed against the Steam store listing, which shows no achievement block at all. Build your own goals instead: a loot value target, a no-detection run, or a Home Base tier inside a set number of runs.
Checked against Current build
#A clean heist leaves no record anywhere outside your own capture
Nothing appears on your Steam profile, so there is no external trace of a run at all. If a session is worth remembering, recording it yourself is currently the only durable proof that it happened the way you say it did.
Checked against Current build
Biomes
#There are five biomes, and the later ones want specific tools
Suburbs, Deep Forest, Island, Swamp Plot, and Mountaintop each bring their own hazards. What separates the later maps is not that they demand sharper reflexes but that they ask for equipment you have to have brought with you.
Checked against Current build
Communication
#A callout only reaches whoever is standing close enough
Voice runs on push-to-talk and is proximity-based, so the distance between your gnome and each teammate decides who hears it. Information does not reach the whole team on its own, which means the person who most needs a warning is often the one out of range.
Checked against Current build
NPCs
#Bob is friendly, and he is not the man in the house
Bob is a friendly NPC and not a threat. Players who hear the name in a stream and assume it means the pursuing human end up avoiding the wrong thing entirely, which costs them loot they could have taken safely.
Checked against Current build
Troubleshooting
#Silent voice chat is usually the binding, not the game
Check the push-to-talk key in the controls menu before anything else, then treat it as ordinary audio troubleshooting. Confirm the right input device is selected, confirm the game is not pointed at a disconnected interface, and test the mic somewhere else.
Checked against Current build
Communication
#Whether talking attracts the Old Man is genuinely undocumented
Nothing first-party confirms that talking pulls enemies, and the community is split. Plan around what verifiably draws attention, meaning what your gnome physically does in the world, and treat any microphone advice you read as unverified.
Checked against Current build
Items
#The Mole Disguise is not in the base game at all
It comes from a cheat mod and not from anything you can craft or find. A Mole entity does exist in the game and that is where the confusion starts, but no disguise item is obtainable through normal play at any Home Base tier.
Checked against Current build
Karma
#Smashing the place up costs you nothing in Karma
Karma comes from killing non-player creatures and nothing else, and each entity carries its own value, so what you kill matters as much as how many. Property damage is loud and risky for other reasons entirely, but it never touches the meter.
Checked against Current build
What to Read Next
- Stealth and Crouching. Line of sight, noise, and where a pursuer actually searches.
- Karma and Threat Escalation. What feeds the meter and what the escalation costs you.
- Crafting and Home Base. Gnomium, tier costs, furniture, and the upgrade that matters most.
- The Bestiary. Every creature, its tells, and which of them is on your side.
- Items and Stealing. Loot, tasks, and what a run has to bring home to count.
- Solo Operative Guide. Running a house alone, and why a chase is unwinnable.
- Proximity Chat. Voice range, push-to-talk, and coordinating a crew.
- Environments and Biomes. All five maps and the tools each one expects.
- Getting Started. The run loop, the failure penalty, and your first house.