This War of Mine (TWoM) places your small group of survivors in a run down building for the duration of a war that's taking place as a setting in the background. You and your companions are victims of circumstance and don't actually affect the outcome of the war or take part in it, you're merely trying to survive. TWoM frequently asks you to make difficult decisions in order to survive. To what lengths will you go to keep yourself and your friends alive? This War of Mine is a bleak game and very moody. If I had to boil the game down to a gameplay description, I'd say that This War of Mine is a resource and risk management game with survival and stealth elements, base building, worker placement, and heavy theme; but it's so much more than that. Every decision you make comes at a cost. Everything you build costs resources and your nightly scavenging excursions can only bring back so much. Do you build a build for everyone, or do you hot rack and sleep in shifts? Should you trade your medicine since it's worth a LOT, or do you give it to Katia, who is developing a cold that may get worse? I knew this game had a hold on me the very first time I played it. Winter had set in by about day 28 and food had become even more scarce. We had resorted to trapping rats in our hovel for a meager amount of meat every few days if we were lucky. Marko, our best scavenger, had been shot and killed while looking for supplies and it made the rest of us sad and scared. We had come to rely on him for bringing back what we needed every night. Bruno, our cook, froze to death in his sleep shortly after, as we had already chopped up all of our furniture for fire wood and had run out. His death sent Arica hurtling into a deep depression, which ultimately ended in her committing suicide. TWoM starts with a random group of 3-4 survivors (randomized each time you start the game anew) each with different skills and potentially different vices as well. Some of the skills I have seen so far include 'good cook,' 'trained in combat,' and 'runs faster.' Some skills seem more useful than others and some I haven't found a use for yet (if there is one). The vices I have seen so far include 'coffee drinker' and 'smoker.' The vices affect a survivor's mood. This makes each playthrough different and challenging because you might end up with a very difficult spread of skills and vices to manage. The game also starts in a random season (hopefully not winter, good luck with that). There is no handholding in TWoM, nor is there a tutorial. That said, I never felt like I needed one. The UI in TWoM is simple and effective, elegant even. You always know what you can interact with and how. There is a great deal of trial and error here, in a good way. The game is separated into two phases, the day and the night cycle. During the day, you basically assign tasks to your survivors in real time (and the clock is running during this phase, but I wouldn't say you feel rushed by it; I've always had enough time to complete the goals I set). Maybe you want to build a still to produce liquor for trading (or consuming), or build a bed so you don't have to sleep on the floor. You'll do this in the day phase. Also during the day phase, a traveling trader might stop by to barter with you or a neighbor might come asking for help. You can choose to help or ignore these people. Sometimes people will show up asking to join your group. These are decisions you must weigh carefully, as they will be one more mouth to feed, one more person getting sick that needs medicine, et cetera. But they might also bring something valuable to the table, that is up to you to determine. You can build a lot of different things in your shelter and everything you can build can also be upgraded with very few exceptions. Some of the things you can build include rainwater collectors, a radio (that works), a still, an herbal workshop for rolling cigarettes (to feed vices and also to trade), a metalworking table for making weapons and tools, and lots of other things. When night falls, you are tasked with deciding who gets to sleep (and where), who should stand guard (if anyone), and who will go out to scavenge for supplies (and where). Other survivors can raid your shelter, so if no one stands guard, there's a good chance they will steal some of your things and this should be avoided at all costs as they can run off with a LOT of stuff if given the chance. Even if you have guards, there's always the chance they can be wounded in these raids. When you decide where to scavenge, you're given a set of locations to choose from, each with a description of what you might encounter there so you can come prepared. A bombed out school may indicate you should probably bring a shovel to dig through rubble piles more effectively. A military outpost may have goods for trade, or they may shoot on sight. There's always a risk everywhere you go. Available locations change over time, as well, with new locations opening up, and some closing due to the war or inclement weather. As far as I can tell, these are heavily randomized for the most part as well. There is combat in the game, including stealth kills and a cover system that I have not experimented with too much yet as I try to avoid combat as much as possible (it's super deadly). Most tools can be used as weapons (crowbars, shovels, axes) and you can also find and repair firearms or trade for them occasionally, but ammunition is rare (but can also be crafted with the right facilities and components). Again though, what are you going to give up to be able to craft your own guns? Heat in the winter? A safe place to sleep? can't say enough good things about this game. My only complaint, and it has no bearing on the game itself, whatsoever, is that there are no mod tools. It seems to me that it would be very easy to add new locations, characters, and things to craft with mod tools and extend this great game even further.
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