The Gnome Alone Achievement in Half-Life 2

As most gamers are aware, Gabe Newell of Valve partnered with Weta Workshop and Rocket Lab to launch a 3D printed Gnome Chompski into space for charity. As a tribute, the company has added a special auto-unlock achievement named “Gnome Alone” to all Left 4 Dead 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Half-Life: Alyx games on Steam. This achievement was activated on November 20, 2020 and will donate $1 to the Starship children’s hospital in Auckland, New Zealand for every player who watches the video of the gnome in space before it expires.

The gnome alone achievement is very easy to unlock, but it requires some patience and perseverance. First, make sure that you have the gnome available in your inventory, and that it is not dropped during the first part of the chapter where Alyx fights the chopper. Once the chopper is destroyed, head to the train terminal where you can see the Citadel in the distance. Look underneath the wooden bunkbed near where Alyx hands you supplies and pick up the gnome. You can also leave it on the ground next to the rocket base (where it gets picked up by the Combine when you enter).

Once in the rocket base, drop the gnome straight down the elevator shaft and wait for the Combine ambush to end before picking him up again. Repeat this process throughout the entire chapter, until the gnome is placed in the rocket at the end. This will save you a lot of time that would otherwise be spent going through the grub caves, fighting the antlion guardian and hunting down hundreds of antlion grubs, which can be an annoying part of this chapter.

Getting the gnome alone achievement will earn you 30 lousy points and it may take a while, but it is definitely worth the effort. It’s a good idea to save frequently, and even use cheats if necessary, as it will help speed up the process significantly. The only drawback of using cheats is that the gnome will keep dropping out of your inventory.

In addition to saving a massive amount of time, the gnome alone achievement will also reward players with an exclusive shirt for Rochelle and a new hat icon for the game’s character avatar. It also skips a huge chunk of the chapter, including the antlion guardian, the grub tunnels and the entire antlion ruins. You will still have to deal with the chopper ambush at the White Forest rocket base and the Combine ambush that follows, but at least you won’t have to spend an hour or so trying to find the gnome. You can always replay the chapter if you are not happy with your time/achievement result.