Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves

I don't know why I'ev never heard of this game before, because it's cool in my opinion! You play as a lumberjack. You have to defend you house from wolves. Put the traps around your house during the day and go check those during the night. You also have an axe and a rifle. The game mechanics are well done. For example, there is a new feature, the fear factor: if a wolf has 30points of fearfactor and you have less, it will attack you. Otherwise it will stay far from you. Same goes with pack of wolves. And lot more. The game has very good gameplay and traps are fun! The strategy and action are perfectly balanced together and will offer you an amazing new experience. You have enough freedom to plan your strategy. It is short, around 10/15 hours, but for me it's not a problem because I've got it for free. The story is easy to follow and engaging. Chracters are good. I liked the sound, the voices and the music. Fun. Give it a try.

One of the best takes on tower-defense that has none of the mediocrity that every other attempt seems to be saddled with. This game's got difficulty, depth and reward. Fully recommend it if you're up for a challenge and for something clever and cool.

Okay, the title is just a MST3K in-joke (I couldn't help it), but Sang-Froid really is a pretty interesting game, a mixture of creativity and missed potential. The main goal is to survive each night by preparing traps around the game map during the daytime, then scrambling to defend your buildings when night falls by activating those traps, luring the enemies into them, or, failing all that, rushing into combat and dealing with them personally. To be successful you have to think ahead and make a plan, then be sure to keep track of where you need to be and what you need to do once that plan is set in motion, along with some quick thinking in case anything goes wrong. Luckily, the game gives you abundant tools to work with- ziplines for quick travel, a dozen varieties of traps, upgrades to your weapons, booze power-ups for when you need quick healing or a boost to your speed, and the power to change the direction of the wind in order to lure enemies to you or sneak past them. Considering the short length of the game, it's surprising how many different factors and potential strategies they packed in, and a real testament to their skill that it never feels overwhelming or too frustrating. The gameplay and the uniqueness of the 1800s Canadian setting are the strong points, and it's worth buying for those alone, but it does fall flat in a few areas. The voice acting is pretty awful, the graphics are passable but not great, the combat can be repetitive, and the plot is kind of silly and the characters shallow. There were hints of a different game in here, a game about the beauty of nature, the isolation and danger of winter in a remote town, the strength of family and cultural connections, and some interesting Canadian history, but instead it ends up being a cheesy game full of underdeveloped characters and goofy stereotypes. It would have been nice if they went for more atmosphere and depth, but it's still a decent indie title and definitely worth playing at least once.

Saw this game a while ago, my interest was captured by the fact the story is set in my culture, which is a first to my knowledge. Saw it was frre recently and despite having little time to play video games, this week I figured I'd give it a try. The music at the start of the game (hey, I know that band!) immediately tugged at my heart, and by the time I heard the first french dialogue with all the "Canayen" feel it had, from the choice of words to the accents, a tear started forming in the corner of my eye. The action immediately made me think of the fable series, which i'm not a big fan of but played a bit, and I must say this game uses the formula quite well. This coupled with the "strategic" panel which enables you to plan the night's defense and trap laying works quite well, an interesting take on the tower defence genre. The "buying stuff" part is no non-sense and effective, it kind of harkens back to late 90's games. I gave it 4 stars...and this is an objective rating, I'm not considering the national pride aspect nor the fact it's free. Seriously, try it, at this price, all it costs is you time and it is well worth it.

...Where god****n is my second tome? Ok folks, I won't spoil much, but the fact that this game is now *free* really outrages me! Sang-Froid is one of the simplest examples why I consider some indie game to be pure art form, and despite having little to no budget, Sang-Froid have something that 90% of other games don't: VISION, and a cohesive one to boot! Sang-Froid is, welp, a game, yes, but also a tale. A tale where you'll find yourself inside a book about werewolf, stories of ol' and Canada's Folklore. The game manages to weave an adventure about two brothers and a sister against insurmontable odds, with an astounding ability to make you invested start to finish. Gameplay wise, it's a tower defence... but extremely elaborated and grounded (for the most part), which kept me replay both brothers (whom represent also the difficulty), even if the two playthrough are separated by almost a decade apart! But what really shines, apart from story and graphics (which it is actually the game weak point, but it is still integrated with the game's overall design) is the music (man, I still listen to them- Les Deux Vendredis by La Volée d'Castors, go check it out). Downsides? just some part of the melee feels clunky and the graphics (which, again, weirdly, are actually perfect for the tone of the game). So, worth it? ... I mean, you serious? even if this game is not your cup of tea, doesn't matter ('cuz is not a game, but an experience worth having).