RATING / ESRB / A Created with Sketch. RATING / ESRB / E Created with Sketch. RATING / ESRB / E10 Created with Sketch. RATING / ESRB / M Created with Sketch. RATING / ESRB / T Created with Sketch.
RATING / PEGI / 12 Created with Sketch. RATING / PEGI / 16 Created with Sketch. RATING / PEGI / 18 Created with Sketch. RATING / PEGI / 3 Created with Sketch. RATING / PEGI / 7 Created with Sketch. icon_pin Created with Sketch.

Battle Brothers

in library

4.4/5

( 308 Reviews )

4.4

308 Reviews

English
29.9929.99
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
Safety and satisfaction . Stellar support and full refunds up to 30 days.
Battle Brothers
1 Goodies included
comic (16 pages) (English)
Description
 From city building to grand strategy, turn-based tactics to RTS, see more strategy games from Hooded Horse .   The world is fractured, and the old empires have turned to dust. The dead rise from their crypts and Greenskin hordes gather in the distance, as bandits roam free a...
Critics reviews
70 %
Recommend
PC Gamer
84/100
RPG Fan
82%
Softpedia
8.5/10
User reviews

4.4/5

( 308 Reviews )

4.4

308 Reviews

{{ review.content.title }}
Product details
2017, Overhype Studios, ...
System requirements
Windows® 10 (64-bit), Intel® Core™ i3-2100 (dual-core) / AMD® Phenom™ II X2 565 (dual-core), 2 GB RA...
DLCs
Battle Brothers - Support the Developers & Southern Banner, Battle Brothers - Beasts & Exploration,...
Time to beat
32 hMain
58.5 h Main + Sides
103.5 h Completionist
48.5 h All Styles
Buy series (3)
Buy all games in the series. If you already own a game from the series, it won’t be added to your cart.
-5%49.9747.47
Check out now
Description
 

From city building to grand strategy, turn-based tactics to RTS, see more strategy games from Hooded Horse.


 

 

The world is fractured, and the old empires have turned to dust. The dead rise from their crypts and Greenskin hordes gather in the distance, as bandits roam free and Nobles prepare for war – the people are left with no choice but to turn to  mercenary bands for aid. Battle Brothers is a turn-based tactical RPG where you lead a mercenary company in a procedurally generated world fraught with dangers of all kinds, and plenty of opportunity for fortune and fame. Decide where to go, which contracts to take on, who to hire, and how to equip your growing mercenary band in this sandbox adventure of grit and valor.

 

 

The procedurally generated maps of Battle Brothers feature bustling cities, wandering beasts, unique points of interest, and the freedom to explore and engage with everything as and when you wish.

  • Travel in real-time across the varied landscapes of the world to visit the settlements and strongholds spread across the realm, offering you everything from respite and rumors at the local tavern to new recruits for your growing band of battle brothers. Visit markets to sell loot and acquire powerful equipment, or speak to the local lord to see what troubles them, and how much they’re willing to pay to have those troubles taken care of.
  • Settlements and Noble Houses will be your primary source of wealth as they offer dynamically generated contracts of varying difficulty to reflect the coin that comes with completing them – will you take on particularly challenging monsters early in your career to secure greater wealth at the risk of losing your starting sellswords, or will you start focused on local bandits and thieves fleeing justice instead? Be warned – no contract is without consequences, and the quests you take on and how you accomplish them will determine your relationships with the various factions of the world as well as your company’s renown and reputation.
  • Seek opportunities beyond contracts and quests to deepen your pockets – from profitable trade among the many cities and settlements to the great riches hidden in the wild. Will you pursue the life of a merchant and seek out optimal trade routes to bolster your wealth, focus on mercenary contracts, or strike out on your own and seek opportunity and loot in the crypts, camps, and ruins that litter the world?
  • Various crises  can ignite and fundamentally reshape the landscape, demanding radically different strategies and offering new opportunities as time goes on – how will you adapt to an evolving political situation, and more powerful adversaries? Nobles may start massive factional wars, the undead may rise up, or Greenskins may launch full-scale invasions of the land. 

 

 

The brutal battlefields of Battle Brothers reward the clever tactician and punish the careless. As you fight intense turn-based tactical battles on battlefields featuring rough terrain, height advantages, and obstacles to use to your advantage, every swing of the blade carries weight. Take on bandits and beasts of all kinds and maul, mangle, and maim your way through combat.

  • An extremely granular approach to equipment introduces reason to vary your formations and loadouts depending on the team you’ve assembled, and the foe you face – the stab of a spear does little against the fleshless skeleton warriors, while the bludgeoning mace will make quick work of them and their armour. But those very same spears work great alongside shields to keep hungry beasts at bay with their extended reach alongside shieldbashes for those who come close. Meanwhile, though a warhammer could make quick work of a heavily armored bandit, using a dagger to cut between gaps in their protection could leave a very valuable piece of armor intact for you to loot and use.
  • Initiative and action points are important factors on any battlefield, but in Battle Brothers, fatigue plays an additional key role as more powerful attacks and abilities are quicker to exhaust your warriors, especially when covered in layers of heavy armor. A tired soldier has less of their repertoire available to them, and with enough fatigue accumulated, even moving proves difficult – every step taken, every arrow fired, and every sword swung comes at a price, and sometimes a lightly armoured warrior with a dagger and a net can do more damage than if they were heavily armoured and swinging around a morning star.
  • Even if the body is willing, the mind may break first – morale is another key factor to manage on the battlefield! If they have little resolve, your own troops may begin to flee under pressure, but most enemies will similarly suffer should momentum swing in your favour. Will you fight cautiously, taking the enemy on one at a time, or will you seek to slaughter them in quick succession in the hopes of triggering a mass rout?
  • A bad injury – whether temporary or permanent – can quickly end a promising career. While the broken arm that severely reduces combat skills can be healed with rest, a broken elbow joint permanently reduces those very same attributes. From collapsed lungs that make a warrior quick to tire to bruised legs and broken knees that make them slow to act, Battle Brothers’ detailed injury system will break your brothers’ bodies, and keep you on your toes. Keep brothers in reserve when in trouble, and  camp and rest to heal over time, but keep in mind that salaries still need to be paid on time and rations are always limited.

 

 

A mercenary company is nothing without its fighters – your battle brothers come from all walks of life, grow with experience, and provide unique opportunities for an astute commander. Starting with a small band, you will recruit new procedurally-generated hopefuls to grow your company. Ensure your troops are well fed and well paid, train them in a way that best matches their strengths and weaknesses, invest in their equipment to further their capabilities, and use careful tactics to protect your brothers against the many dangers you face.

  • From Retired Soldiers and Crusaders to Beggars and Graverobbers, your recruits’ backgrounds will determine countless factors about them, including their starting gear and attributes and the traits they are likely to develop, while also greatly influencing what events might come to pass as your company goes from contract to contract. Cultists might convert brothers to their faith as Thieves attract unwanted attention from the law, while Monks play peacemaker and prevent multiple Hedge Knights in your party from killing each other in duels – backgrounds will trigger opportunities of their own, and will often mix with others for unique events within your party. When faced with the choice, would you rather hire the highly skilled Adventurous Noble that expects a higher base pay and comes with the high resolve that makes for a good sergeant to rally your troops? Or would you rather bring on a Brawler or Farmhand that, while cheap to keep on, is likely to come with higher health and fatigue and room to learn the art of combat and grow into an ideal front-line warrior?
  • Physical and mental traits further differentiate these individuals, influencing how they may best be used, and potentially changing your plans as new traits develop over time. Athletic warriors are slower to tire, Brutes make better use of certain weapons in melee as they have great skill aiming for the head, and a brother with a Deathwish won’t waver when hurt, often bolstering the mood of his compatriots.
  • Battle Brothers does away with a restrictive class-based system, instead allowing you to develop each warrior according to what you need and what they’re individually suited for. Each brother is an individual with eight attributes, varied backgrounds, and a multitude of traits they either start with or gain over time, and these will determine the roles they best play. Each individual is inclined towards certain attributes, influencing how you might choose to develop them over time, and a detailed perk tree means you can mold these warriors, and your company,  as you like. A middling warrior with the Fast Adaptation perk will increase their hit chances with every miss, and a heavily-armored brother might benefit most from unlocking the Recover skill to quickly reduce accumulated Fatigue – an individual’s role, strengths, and weaknesses can all be influenced by your decisions.

 

Battle Brothers is a turn-based tactical RPG that prioritizes your freedom of choice as a player – from the way you run your company to the people you fight shoulder-to-shoulder with and the adventures you seek, the world is completely open to your choice.  Will you secure a place in history, or will your mercenary company end with a pauper's grave? The decision, the risk, and the reward are all yours.

Popular achievements
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
1 Goodies included
comic (16 pages) (English)
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
Safety and satisfaction . Stellar support and full refunds up to 30 days.
Time to beat
32 hMain
58.5 h Main + Sides
103.5 h Completionist
48.5 h All Styles
Game details
Works on:
Windows (10, 11)
Release date:
{{'2017-03-24T00:00:00+02:00' | date: 'longDate' : ' +0200 ' }}

Game features

Languages
English
audio
text
You may like these products
Users also bought
User reviews
Overall most helpful review

Posted on: July 20, 2017

draxvbion

Games: 76 Reviews: 4

Battle Brothers

I have played this game for over 400 hours on Steam. It is like playing an old AD&D campaign. Battle Brothers is one of the best tactical strategy games I have played. Do not get too attached to your brothers early on because until they get better armor they can bite it very easy. I love how it is important to use many different weapons in your band and you can't use the same strategy against every foe. Better bring hammers against orc warriors to get thru their armor. Facing a horde of undead? Better have a high resolve and set up spear walls. Have an expert bowman to take out that necromancer that is behind his undead horde? Leveling up your brothers and picking the right skills for that character is also important. If you like open world turn based tactical battles then this game is the game for you. It stinks there is no mod support and no DLC's planned but the game is great right now and bug free. My game of the year.


Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: July 20, 2017

mack178

Games: 482 Reviews: 4

Great game, but could have been more

I got this game on Steam Early Access. Now that it's officially released and the devs have stopped creating new content, I'll give my thoughts. Battle Brothers is a unique game where every character you hire could become your new hero, or just more fodder for battle. Almost everything in the game is procedurally generated, from the map to the character backstories and the missions. After a few hours of play you'll start to see the stitches holding everything together, but it's still a fun experience. The option to choose whether or not you're able to save your game manually is great; it adds a level of realism and a sort of hardcore-mode that makes every decision count. The graphics are pretty to look at and the battle system is very enjoyable (turn-based, hex-tiles, with some nice strategic elements). Missions are typically of the "kill those guys" or "escort this guy" variety, but the Renown and Ambition systems work well to keep you moving forward. The most disappointing part of this game is that is feels sort of unfinished. There are tons of little stand-alone buildings near towns that do nothing, there is no interaction with peasants or caravans on the roads. I thought the devs would add these things in since it seemed like such an obvious feature, but it never happened. Of course this doesn't ruin the game by any stretch, but it does knock it down from a 5-star rating. Overall Battle Brothers really is a great, fun game that's easy to pick up but hard to master. If not for the feeling of emptiness from the vacant buildings and non-responsive NPCs, I would give this game five stars. As it stands, it's a solid 4/5.


Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: August 2, 2017

todda

Verified owner

Games: 237 Reviews: 22

Decent game with a side of tedium.

This game is a turn-based tactical strategy that plays something like a fantasy board-game version of X-Com. I really want to like it, and in many ways I do. It has flashes of brilliance, a great setting, and the freedom to make your own story. However, there are design decisions that seem to exist solely to make your experience needlessly tedious. Graphics/Sound: Hand-drawn art is nice, although this was likely due to having a low budget. However your characters look like Weebles. Blood-thirsty, head-chopping Weebles... The musical score is suitably epic. Game play: Finding the right strategy to destroy your enemies is very satisfying. However, be prepared to lose your characters, a lot. And while the game prepares you for this, it feels more like dumb luck and lazy difficulty than the fault of any poor strategy. I will also point out that the "beginner" difficulty is not really suited to beginners, and will likely result in numerous restarts while you struggle to figure out what's going on. Some people enjoy obtuse game design, and while it can be satisfying to figure it out, it can also be very frustrating. A beginner difficulty should truly be for beginners. Problems: My biggest gripe with the game are several design decisions that create frustration and tedium. The difficulty settings are poorly described. There is no tutorial whatsoever, and the game sorely needs one (queue the chorus of bros telling me to "git gud"). I had to learn it from YouTube videos. Overland travel is painfully slow, and the accelerate time setting constantly resets itself whenever you do anything. It takes forever to level up your characters, which is frustrating when they die so easily. In conclusion, this is a flawed game that is not without merits. If you are not easily frustrated, and don't mind digging through the internet to learn how to play it properly, like turn-based strategy, and like a dark-fantasy settings akin to fantasy warhammer, then this game might be for you.


Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: July 20, 2017

Lrjc1984

Games: 140 Reviews: 6

He took an arrow to the knee. And Face..

and lung, and then he lost a foot. But he holds my Standard high. Had this since early access on Steam - Dev's have put a hella'va lot of hours into this and scrolling through all the fanbase feedback. Con: I would love to see more character customisation a la JA2 (But I want everything to be more like JA2 so...). Can be tough to like if you expect everyone to live. Pro's: Some will die - get over that quickly. Absolute gem of a game, strategy, turn based RPG squad combat. Orcs, Feudal houses and the undead and you're stuck in the middle as a gang of mercenaries taking contracts. Start off with a few farm hands or a deserter or two (They at least know how to hold a sword) and by the time your name is heralded throughout the land you'll have knights and kings begging to be in your company. If you like any sort of squad based, level up your team combat action then this is a winner. Lovely little game, well worth the money and they even have tutorial videos etc. Just also been patched recently and is one of the more stable games I own. I've got Shadowrun, I loved Xcom (New and Old, I've now got Xenonauts) and loved JA2 - this scratches that itch although doesn't completely remove it.


Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: July 22, 2017

Lukaszmik

Games: Reviews: 10

Tactics and Management: Medieval Edition

As other reviewers, I bit the bullet while Battle Brothers was still in Early Access on Steam. In between then and the release, I sank a couple of hundred hours of my preciously limited free time into it. I hope that gives an idea of how intricate and well crafted this game was even prior to release polish. You roam the strategic map, usually in search of the next contract to let you pay and feed your men for another day or two. Later on, as your purse fills out, you may start to seek out special locations out in the wilderness to raid for unique loot, or establish a visiting route seeking that uniquely qualifying brother to fill a specific role in your band, or bounce between best shops looking for highest quality gear... all the while making certain that the name of your mercenary band gains increasing recognition. Trade is certainly possible and, in fact, able to make the early game that much easier. Just do keep in mind that you are leading a band of mercenaries, not peddlers :) The RPG elements are quite strong in the multitude of random encounters you will trigger. A great majority of them will take under consideration either the background or personality traits of your brothers. A bowyer with sufficient material on hand can, for instance, create a bow vastly superior to most available in stores. An aging mercenary can teach a younger brother some of his skills... or your superstitious brother can bring doom and gloom into the minds of your band in barely fifteen words. The events are numerous and very varied, and bring a lot of life to the characters they feature. However, even the personality traits are really just an element of the true core of the game - the tactical combat. This part is extremely intricate and well developed, and sooner or later you will have to learn all the elements that play part in combat.. at least if you plan on playing above Easy difficulty. If you enjoy turn-based tactical games, do yourself a favor and buy Battle Brothers.


Is this helpful to you?

1
3
...
...
52

Something went wrong. Try refresh page.

This game is waiting for a review. Take the first shot!
{{ item.rating }}
{{ item.percentage }}%
Awaiting more reviews
An error occurred. Please try again later.

Other ratings

Awaiting more reviews

Add a review

Edit a review

Your rating:
Stars and all fields are required
Not sure what to say? Start with this:
  • What kept you playing?
  • What kind of gamer would enjoy this?
  • Was the game fair, tough, or just right?
  • What’s one feature that really stood out?
  • Did the game run well on your setup?
Inappropriate content. Your reviews contain bad language. Inappropriate content. Links are not allowed. Inappropriate content. Content contains gibberish. Review title is too short. Review title is too long. Review description is too short. Review description is too long.
Not sure what to write?
Filters:

No reviews matching your criteria

Written in
English Deutsch polski français русский 中文(简体) Others
Written by
Verified ownersOthers
Added
Last 30 daysLast 90 daysLast 6 monthsWheneverAfter releaseDuring Early Access

GOG Patrons who helped preserve this game
{{controller.patronsCount}} GOG Patrons

Error loading patrons. Please refresh the page and try again.

Delete this review?

Are you sure you want to permanently delete your review for Battle Brothers? This action cannot be undone.
Are you sure you want to permanently delete your rating for Battle Brothers? This action cannot be undone.

Report this review

If you believe this review contains inappropriate content or violates our community guidelines, please let us know why.

Additional Details (required):

Please provide at least characters.
Please limit your details to characters.
Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Report this review

Report has been submitted successfully.
Thank you for helping us maintain a respectful and safe community.