This War of Mine

I'm not sure what to think about this title. On one hand I find it a really interesting game because it had me care about my little group of survivors and imersed me in their world, but on the other hand I finished the whole game in one 8 hour long sitting. The interaction between you and the NPCs is really simple and consists of either being hostile or engaging in barter. NPCs react to you killing their relatives or stealing their stuff, but there are no quests or branching dialog options or any other interaction, which in my opinion is a pitty. Also I have expected a more detailed epilogue regarding the choices I have made thorough the game. Simply stating "you decided to help you neighbours" doesnt really add to the story. I know I have helped them because I decided to click the "yes" button which resulted in one of my survivors leaving the party for one day - quest done. Even that could be overlooked if game supplied some more detailed quest info like what happened to my neighbours after the story of game ended? how did my action influenced their later lives? All in all this is an interesting game, but for the price I would expect a lot of more content. Also Linux version crashes every other "ingame day". Windows version worked without a problem for me.

This game successfully combines game mechanics and deep positive and negative emotions, without any ugly artifice that reminds you that you are playing a game. Game Mechanics- By Day You have a group of randomized characters trying to survive a war raging in the very city they live in. The game is point and click in a real time interface. Characters have their own wants (cigarrettes, coffee) and their own strengths(bartering or running fast). You get needs fulfilled by crafting( everything from catching rodents to building water filters for your rain-catchers to boarding up your home) and managing individual needs by day ( characters will need to manage different night/day sleep cycles and treat their wounds/hunger/sadness) By Night At Night, you send out up to one person who can try to trade, scavenge, or steal the supplies at different locations. Some people will want to help you or trade with you, others will be torturing innocents, all of them will be very protective and vigilant over their meager belongings. This game allows you to be a true cold blooded monster if you want. You can lure people into ambushes by making noise and then hiding, axing them in the back when they come to investigate. This has some consequences on your character as a human being... A New Story of Triumph People will come to you for help such as helping them survive the snipers by day. You can obtain medicines and other items that sickly people need. This helps each of your characters morale. And all of your characters will talk about these events, giving each of them cohesion...however... A Long String of Suffering If you steal out of need, if you kill people, if your friends/room mates all die, the characters will talk about those things, become depressed, or even have mental breakdowns... At the end of the game, you get to see a long list of your triumphs and sufferings..and the conclusions of each character..dead or alive....it is awesome...

The game itself is nice but it still contains game breaking bugs (character getting insta killed) that the developer refuses to fix in the GOG version (and humble bumble as well). Only steam gets all the patches, so if you really need this game buy it there. One star for the lousy support from 11bit studios.

This War of Mine has a very simple but unique premise: Experience the effects of war from the civilian point of view, where having to constantly scavenging for supplies or even killing your former neighbors to get them is a reality. Gameplay consists of a lot of clicking on things and watching them happen, with a lot of decision making, resource and survivor management with some surprisingly tense and effective stealth mechanics. Stealth happens during the night where you have to scavenge, steal (or in some cases kill for...) supplies. The game is randomised everytime you play as well, which is frustrating as it has the same problem as most roguelikes where you either have a good run, or a REALLY bad one. However where the game shines is in it's setting and overall execution In this case the game excels in it's main priority, it is very immersive as the random survivors you receive through each play-through have their own attributes, skills, and most importantly: Personality. These are all important as you have you manage your survivors mood, hunger, sleep and overall health a bit like The Sims. You even grow attached to these survivors as they each have their own backstories and reasons to make it through the war that you just can't help but sympathise with them, and this makes it all the more painful if they die as well as the fact that your other survivors might even become depressed over their death. Hell, i remember my first chaotic playthrough where i accidentally drove one of my survivors into depression and eventually suicide because i forced him to kill others to gain supplies and he was consumed by the guilt. Upon seeing this i realised that unlike other games, choices really DO have consequences here... So yes This War of Mine, both aesthetically and setting wise, is absolutely worth your time. Is the game hard to the point of frustrating? Sometimes yes. But it's still deep and gripping enough that you'll find yourself coming back anyway.