Battle Brothers

I may be biased. Putting in 1400+ hours (on Steam) into a game may be closer to obsession than enjoyment - I let you be the judge. Mind you, Battle Brothers isn't just a captivating game that let's you simulate life (and death, above all else) of a rugged group of middle-age'ish mercenaries (fishermen, beggars, poachers, farmhands most of the time..), with demanding turn-based combat that feels like chess at times, a gruesome injury system, wide array of weapons that have their advantages and downsides, dark-grey choices and many heads to chop off. It is also a game that runs extraordinarily well alongside corporate All Hands meetings and allows you to make 2-3 choices while sharepoint is struggling with spitting out that updated excel sheet. And it is a game that - like no other - will teach you to lose, again and again. And losing becomes fun, because suddenly your knights in shining armour became a hobbling, one-eyed group of efficient killers with bad knees, traumatized minds, but experienced and well equipped, able to handle the most dangerous foes that you were running away from 20 hours ago. It's a game where gritting your teeth is added to the "one more turn" feeling you get in the Civilization series, but the outcome can be so much more rewarding, when all odds are against you but a well placed strategic choice makes the difference between getting out alive, or fertalizing the neverending plains (which get individual, procedurally generated names). Give it a try, get yourself killed, have fun digging yourself out of the gutter, realizing that the adaptions and changes you've made it skill decisions, positioning of your mercanaries and choice of weapons simply makes a huge difference. Take up raiding caravans, make enemies, or trade between towns, squeezing out money building on the economic system in the game. Run errands, or run into beasts and sell their pelts. Or run down brigands, barbarians and nomads, earning their pay.

I've sunk hundred of hours into Battle Brothers and I still have yet to see everything, and I still enjoy it. A wonderful tactical game with superb writing, and one of my favourite games of all time.

Recipe for the most frustrating game of all-time: 1- Make hit chances so low that your characters will be missing all the time, even with the hit-chance perks on all characters and with all characters using spears 2- Make the easiest difficulty still far too difficult for people who seek to enjoy the game casually 3- Employ permadeath 4- Make in-battle healing impossible 5- Employ a zone of control system that prevents you from effectively retreating with your injured characters 6- Never have enough contracts available that are worth the players time and effort. Let the player roam from town to town with no contracts available. 7- Make sure you can't see a mercenaries' stats before hiring him 8- Prevent the player from seeing the complete turn-order list so he can appropriately plan his moves 9- Have lots of strong enemies that can 2-shot your best guys such as Lindwurms 10- Never drop good armor naturally. Force the player to waste their time farming armor by killing enemies with knives. Let the player assume the risks of losing their characters permanently by engaging in said farming techniques. 11- Make sure the player never really has any clue what he is going to encounter in the battle ahead. Withhold this information, then punish him with injuries or casualties on a fight he had no chance of winning. 12- Make sure characters with the best backgrounds are rarely ever available or prohibitively expensive so that the player has to instead waste resources investing in sub-optimal characters. 13- Allow enemies to permanently destroy your legendary shields 14- Don't offer the player legendary items very often 15- Don't offer an in-game tutorial 16- Never explain anything or give the player tips in-game

Ever wondered what lurkes in a medieval German wilderness from the Grimms' tales. It's death. Ever thought how it is to be a mercenary, making coin of killing people? It is to take a job so dangerous that nobody wanted it. It is to march willingly into a trap, watch your fellow comrades die so you can raise enough money to get mouldy bread for couple more days. It is to break bones in attempt to kill giants, so some villagers don't have to see any of your filthy kind ever again. Ever wanted to be a good knight, saving people's lives for a smile and a good wish? It's costly. Your brothers get injured, equipment destroyed and arrows lost, when you could just take merchants life and live of his supplies for couple of more miserable days on a road full of brigands, beasts and wildmen. This game is not for everyone. It is indeed for just a few, but it is a fruit of love and passion. If you learn to love, it will love you as well.

I love it! I t has the feeling of Sid Meier's Pirates!, which I started playing in my late teens on a Commodore 64, and a Mount & Blade Warband hybrid. I just can't get into the M&B combat but I'm totally digging the BB combat. I get that D&D campaign vibe as well. 4 out of 5 due to no mod support. I'm off! Just one more contract...just one more battle...8 hours later and he is still playing. ;)