The title screen for the game.
 
Gemcraft Chapter 0 is a prequel to the original GemcraftGemcraft Chapter 1 (The Forgotten), and was released on April 16, 2009. It is very similar to the first game, although their are some minor changes, and a few major changes to the game.
Changes from Gemcraft
A major change from the original game was the use of trenches was replaced with traps. Traps can be set on the path and use 1/5 of the power that a gem would use in a tower, but they attack twice as fast and their special ability was doubled as well.
There are also many different modes you can play each level, unlocking these modes after your wizard level gets to a certain point. There are nine levels total, counting the normal mode. You must complete a level on normal mode before any other mode. Three out of the eight modes are three times the experience, allowing you to level up quicker on those levels. The nine modes are:
- Normal-Kill all the monsters (start out with)
- Sudden Death- If a monster reaches your wizard tower, you lose (obtained at Level 8)
- Endurance-Survive for as long as you can (obtained at Level 16)
- Heroic- +20% number of monsters, +40% monster hit points, No giant monsters, 2 additional waves (obtained at Level 24)
- Swarm- Only swarm waves, +60% number of monsters (obtained at Level 32)
- Time Seige-Kill all monsters before time runs out (obtained at Level 40)
- Bleeding Edge- +60% number of monsters, +80% monster hit points, no giant monsters, 4 additional waves (obtained at Level 48)
- Carapace-Only armored waves, Increased monster armor, reduced speed, +100% number of monsters, 6 additional waves (obtained at Level 56)
- Arcane- +80% number of monsters, +100% monster hit points, no giant monsters, 8 additional waves, Monsters led by an Arcane Guardian (obtained at Level 64)
Another new thing added to Chapter Zero is the use of shrines. Shrines are like towers with unknown origin, although they cannot be built. A shrine is activated by sacrificing a gem on it. The higher the gem, the more powerful the Shrine is. Each shrine can only be activated so many times (which is shown on each level). There are two types of Shrines in Gemcraft Chapter 0. They are:
- Lightning Shrine-sends Lightning Bolts crawling towards the monsters and damaging certain monsters
The game keeps eight gems like the original game, but also includes the prismitic gem, which is a combination of all eight gems.