This War of Mine

[AronaBeatsJones]

Just want to shout this game out. Have been playing the fuck out of it (200 hours+), and it's a pretty simple, casual, survivalism game.

Basically, you spend the day at this house with other survivors, and go out at night to loot / clear other locations. It's a strategy game, but there's a little bit of simplified combat. Crafting is a major element of the game, and it's really about gathering resources / building infrastructure until you make it till the end (45 days max). About 4-6 hours of straight gameplay per game.

Great escapist fun, and it's cheap af.

 

[Bob Gray]

I got it awhile back and put in a large amount of time. Its pretty addictive for awhile, but starts to get a bit repetitive and going back and forth between the same locations to pick up more items from the "stash" you left is kinda redundant. Still, for the amount of time you get out of it for the price, it's a steal. Once in awhile Ill go back and do another run.

 

[The Best JG]

What are u surviving against?

 

[ROKKO]

I put in about 25 hours. I survived the 45 days once and died within 2 weeks often. I renamed the people to my friends in the options. That made it a little more fun.

I tried to do 85 days but I got to 20 something and died and gave up.

Its not my type of game but I enjoyed it for 25 hours for free.

 

[MidgardSerpent]

Played it in December. Initially left a very strong impression on me. It's almost sort of an edutainment title, but not patronizing shite. But halfway through, the game kinda came apart at the seams, I only had 1 survivor left, the rest of the original gang were either dead or ran away and I could pretty much finish the rest of the last 15 days or so just fast forwarding through most of the days, so it got pretty boring and meaningless. Initially there is so much to do you're just busy surviving, but once you start understanding the game it becomes quite repetitive and stale. A second play through only confirmed to me how shallow the game play mechanics were.

I have no idea how the OP can put 200 hours in a title as this without getting bored as hell, there is just not enough content in the game to justify playing it for that many hours, but that's just me. Only paid a couple of bucks for it, so I'd say I recommend it, just for the experience.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

Played it in December. Initially left a very strong impression on me. It's almost sort of an edutainment title, but not patronizing shite. But halfway through, the game kinda came apart at the seams, I only had 1 survivor left, the rest of the original gang were either dead or ran away and I could pretty much finish the rest of the last 15 days or so just fast forwarding through most of the days, so it got pretty boring and meaningless. Initially there is so much to do you're just busy surviving, but once you start understanding the game it becomes quite repetitive and stale. A second play through only confirmed to me how shallow the game play mechanics were.

I have no idea how the OP can put 200 hours in a title as this without getting bored as hell, there is just not enough content in the game to justify playing it for that many hours, but that's just me. Only paid a couple of bucks for it, so I'd say I recommend it, just for the experience.

I've figured out the formula to survive, so for me, it's a game to gather resources, craft items, and build infrastructure—which I really like. I'll typically have a full-upgraded workshop, a half-upgraded metalshop, an upgraded oven, two beds, and a full-upgraded vegetable garden within twelve days. From that point on, the goal is to have each character well-fed on a daily basis at around Day 20, and then afterward, gathering enough resources to build the remaining items before the scenario ends. Never a dull moment, really.

I also like the random scenarios, and working with / around each character's strengths / handicaps, so each game is a bit different than the last.

It's also been a while since I've really enjoyed a 2D game, and the fact that it's point-and-click makes it an easy, casual game to play (as opposed to immersive 3D games).

I will say that I wish there were more starting houses + locations in the game, but if you managed to get this at the Steam sale, you really cannot complain about what you're getting for the ~$5 price. It's one of the most reasonably priced games I've ever seen.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

What are u surviving against?

Mainly there are "tiers" to your characters' condition (and you'll likely start off with 2-3), and you can't let them get too sick, wounded, or depressed. If you do, they either die or leave the house, and if you end up with no one left, you lose the game.

 

[The Best JG]

Mainly there are "tiers" to your characters' condition (and you'll likely start off with 2-3), and you can't let them get too sick, wounded, or depressed. If you do, they either die or leave the house, and if you end up with no one left, you lose the game.

But what are u surviving against? Zombies? Other human factions / raiders? Natural disasters?

Or just ur regular thirst, hunger, disease?

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

But what are u surviving against? Zombies? Other human factions / raiders? Natural disasters?

Or just ur regular thirst, hunger, disease?

There aren't really any external antagonists. The gameplay is that you're inside of a house during the day, and (optionally) out during the night to gather resources or trade.

Outside you may encounter bandits or rogue militia, and you will often be "raided" at home while you're gone, but the real loss conditions are losing your characters to death (or if they leave the house), and that happens as a result of being too hungry, wounded, or depressed.

You could (and I have more than once) go through the entire game without seeing any enemies or being involved in any combat. It's really about crafting and making sure your characters sustain on acquired resources long enough to see the end of the game.

 

[MidgardSerpent]

I've figured out the formula to survive, so for me, it's a game to gather resources, craft items, and build infrastructure—which I really like. I'll typically have a full-upgraded workshop, a half-upgraded metalshop, an upgraded oven, two beds, and a full-upgraded vegetable garden within twelve days. From that point on, the goal is to have each character well-fed on a daily basis at around Day 20, and then afterward, gathering enough resources to build the remaining items before the scenario ends. Never a dull moment, really.

I also like the random scenarios, and working with / around each character's strengths / handicaps, so each game is a bit different than the last.

It's also been a while since I've really enjoyed a 2D game, and the fact that it's point-and-click makes it an easy, casual game to play (as opposed to immersive 3D games).

I was just surprised you mentioned 200 hours though since you could fit a pretty thorough run of both a Original sin 2 and a Witcher 3 in the same amount of time and those games are considered huge. And imo the game is far too thin to enjoy playing it for that many hours. Experiences can vary, I guess.

I will say that I wish there were more starting houses + locations in the game, but if you managed to get this at the Steam sale, you really cannot complain about what you're getting for the ~$5 price. It's one of the most reasonably priced games I've ever seen.

I think the fact it came from an indie developer is probably both a pro and a con. It's a pro because you get the feeling the developers really cared about making this game, treating the subject with a lot of respect, and there weren't too many hands in the pie to muddle that vision.

And I loved the graphics, functional, fitting, and beautiful.

What really works for the game is that the concept of the developers really comes across through the actual game play because you are the one making those hard decisions, constantly trying to stay afloat. Obviously it's not even remotely close to what people experienced in real life, but we feel a small slice of how it could have been for a civilian. It's a constant consideration of survival, morals, and consequences.

It's a con perhaps because they're probably aching for resources. Just would have been nice to have a bit more game play mechanics or possibilities in the game, and more events and story moments. It got kinda stale halfway through my first play. And I understand you kinda create the story with the choices you make, but the characters didn't feel terribly fleshed out. I also think some voice acting would have helped immensely with immersion. Even with like, say, 100 voice lines for every characters while they're in the house would have added so much.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

I was just surprised you mentioned 200 hours though since you could fit a pretty thorough run of both a Original sin 2 and a Witcher 3 in the same amount of time and those games are considered huge. And imo the game is far too thin to enjoy playing it for that many hours. Experiences can vary, I guess.


I think the fact it came from an indie developer is probably both a pro and a con. It's a pro because you get the feeling the developers really cared about making this game, treating the subject with a lot of respect, and there weren't too many hands in the pie to muddle that vision.

What really works for the game is that the concept of the developers really comes across through the actual game play because you are the one making those hard decisions, constantly trying to stay afloat. Obviously it's not even remotely close to what people experienced in real life, but we feel a small slice of how it could have been for a civilian. It's a constant consideration of survival, morals, and consequences.

It's a con perhaps because they're probably aching for resources. Just would have been nice to have a bit more game play mechanics or possibilities in the game, and more events and story moments. It got kinda stale halfway through my first play. And I understand you kinda create the story with the choices you make, but the characters didn't feel terribly fleshed out. I also think some voice acting would have helped immensely with immersion. Even with like, say, 100 voice lines for every characters while they're in the house would have added so much. Loved the graphics, functional, fitting, and beautiful.

Well, it's 200 hours in the same way you can dump 200 hours into Tetris or Civilization. Each playthrough is relatively short, but if it's fun, you keep playing until the next thing comes along.

I think the scale of the game is pretty commensurate with the price they're charging during a sale. You can't really expect AAA depth here, and you can even tell that it's starting to tear apart at the seams with how flat and buggy The Little Ones DLC is.

Aside from the first playthrough on each scenario, the story is pretty skippable and aside from lines of text in the character bio, has no bearing on the game.

I think where they probably should've invested more was developing a better mod suite so any player could design their own houses / locations, and create their own version of the game for download in the Steam Workshop. I think that would've expanded the game tremendously beyond what the developers could do themselves, and a game like this is ripe for a modding community, but from what I understand the core game is hardcoded and pretty unpenetrable for modders.

 

[Ace70 V2]

I just discovered this game and I'm hooked. Only made it 20 days on my first play through with my last survivor committing suicide. 2nd playthrough going much better so far.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

I bought it on iPad, but I never got far into it. It's quite slow and depressing, so games like Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite, took my attention away from it.

I wouldn't mind doing a full run of it though.

 

[Mike]

How the hell are you guys getting all your survivors killed so much lmao

 

[Ace70 V2]

How the hell are you guys getting all your survivors killed so much lmao

One got shot while scavenging. One died from wounds sustained during a raid. On guy ran off in the middle of the night and was betrayed by some raiders. The last one committed suicide after becoming the last one left.

 

[Mike]

One got shot while scavenging. One died from wounds sustained during a raid. On guy ran off in the middle of the night and was betrayed by some raiders. The last one committed suicide after becoming the last one left.

Never had people get low enough on morale to just leave. Was it from being low on supplies?

 

[MidgardSerpent]

Cool to see my posts from 4 years ago.

 

[Ace70 V2]

Never had people get low enough on morale to just leave. Was it from being low on supplies?

His best friend was the one that got shot. And we suffered some bad raids. He just said fuck it I guess. I got the story about him getting screwed over by raiders afterwards.