Help Will Come Tomorrow

an ugly baby. Intro: 4 train crash survivors in Siberia. You have a number of actions on things that need doing, plus two "socialize" actions per night. A lot of items, each of which can potentially be used for more than one thing. This was intriguing for all of 2 minutes, until you can't use 1 canvas and 2 rags to build a shelter. Either 4 rags or 2 canvas. Characters have opinions about other characters. It is interesting and something that encourages getting to know your people. Only, everyone absolutely hates everyone else. Working together builds friendship and trust, only the first thing they do is insult each other. Just imagine: An old woman, hungry and extremely tired. This young guy comes over and suggests to build a shelter and a bed so she can rest up a bit. Of course her first words are going to be "I hate you. I'd rather have anyone else around me right now. I cannot imagine a person more despicable than you. Get out of my sight." This game tries very hard to go for progression (dead in xxx series) plus the feeling of despair (this war of mine). And yet, everything that happens is just 20 dice rolls. For example it is entirely feasible to cut your hand building a makeshift bed from 20 tree needles. Speaking of needles, it is amazing what you can do with needles in this game. Sorry, but I don't think this game can be saved. If you are looking for alternatives: This War of Mine is quite good, but extremely depressing. Dead in Bermuda/Vinland series, they are quite a bit longer and overall more consistent and quite interesting. If you have real life friends, try to get your hand on "Robinson Crusoe" the board game, which basically does everything right. (look it up on boardgamegeeks.com) This War of Mine also has a board game variant, which is quite as depressing as the computer game, but lets you "enjoy" as a group. Be prepared to permanently damage your relationship with your better half playing it. Summit and Discover are also quite good.

I completed the game in under four hours and it didn't have much in the way of staying power. It tries to give replayablity in the randomization of the starting characters but it doesn't really add to anything. The machanics are shallow with many bars that you can ignore for an entire playthrough. Like the moral between characters, it didn't appear to have any actual impact on events. The translation was a bit odd at times too and it was just an bland experience. Maybe if there was an endless mode and more depth I could recommend it but I can not recommend it with just the base experince.

I love games with the climat. I was reading all the chats and conversations. It's cool that characters are unique and you can familiarise with them. Finished in 3 days. I was craving for this kind of game for a long time apprantly :D It's a shame there is no 'missions' but it's enought and worth the money.

I picked up Help Will Come Tomorrow on a whim, always down for a story-heavy game. While I found it incredibly engaging, the design is just SUPER unforgiving. And that's on easy mode no less?! I think the game would be more balanced if there were more days between events and when the scenario wants to end, versus when you finally get enough resources to make that upgrade or stave off frostbite. You definitely need a few playthroughs to get past the learning curve. But there's just so much Guide Dang It (if you're a TV Tropes fan) where you've pretty much had to play through several times, dying horribly, in order to know what to do next. I had to play four times before I finally got a good ending. There's just not enough balance and the scenarios just want to rush you out, RIGHT when I'm getting really immersed! Having some kind of sandbox mode would also be cool. With that said, the tension between the characters is fantastic. No save-scumming adds to the challenges in a good way. And just like how leftists in-fight in real life, I was ROARING at how most of the revolutionaries don't get along with each other and everyone hates Wadim once he starts quoting Hegel lol. I also liked the inclusion of older characters, and the women characters who bluntly talk about how patriarchy still holds them back despite revolution changing things. As a leftist of Russian and Polish heritage, I got a kick out of the dialog even if the translation was a bit wonky. But while some players were perfectionists about these localization bloopers, I think it actually added to the charm because it reminded me of how some of my relatives from the old country spoke.