This War of Mine: A Haunting Survivalist Game of the Harrowing Realities of a War-Torn City
About the game
This War of Mine, as the name suggests, is a war game. It is a survival war game created by 11 Bit Studios. Generally, war games involve two armies facing-off in combat scenarios with blood and gore. This is a very different game. The focus of this game is not on the war but on the civilians who live through the war. While combatants experience danger at every stage, innocent civilians face dangers that can tear their lives apart.
The game is a survivalist game, which focuses on civilians who survive the war amidst strife and chaos. The realities of war are truly harrowing for common people. They need to survive on a day-to-day basis, not knowing from where death can come. When they live in a city torn by war, life becomes very difficult. This game is about civilians who struggle to survive in a war-torn city.
Video source: Youtube
Game plot and storyline
The game is set in a fictional place known as Pogoren, located in the country Graznavia. A war is on, and there is a group of survivors trying to stay alive and escape from the enemy soldiers. This is a single-player game where you are the leader of a small group of survivors. None of your group members can fight, nor do they have experience surviving in such a crisis. It is up to you to protect yourself and your group and stay alive.
You are in a shelter and need resources to survive. You need to get food and take care of your group’s health concerns. It is difficult to go out during the daytime since snipers are on the loose. In the daytime, you need to cook food, heal the injured, and prepare tools to protect yourself. At night, you need to venture out to look for food and other resources. There are risks at every stage, and the game objective is to survive.
The gameplay
This is a game where the result depends on the decisions you make and the actions you take. There are a total of twelve characters, each of whom has a story and specific characteristics. The player characteristics determine their strengths and weaknesses. The game is a reality check on war and its effects on common people. You may see characters whom you are fond of die in front of you, and you are helpless to do anything.
There are many tasks that need to be done if you want to stay alive. You need tools and resources to make food and keep your group members healthy. There are many locations in the game that you can visit to collect resources. You can trade what you have with traders to get the resources you need. Note that the traders are ruthless and do not care for your problems; they only value resources. You will be faced with moral dilemmas where you may even need to steal food for the aged and helpless for you and your group to survive.
Most of the game may be in winter, and you will need fuel to keep warm. Your group members can become depressed and may turn suicidal. Managing them is another challenging aspect of the game. If you spot an enemy, you need to make quick decisions. Do you fight them or run or try to hide from them? This highly thoughtful game tugs at your emotions. It is not a conventional game, and you need to focus on decision-making to survive and win.
Features of This War of Mine
This War of Mine has many interesting features that make it such a great game. These include:
- The game is a war game without any fighting or bloodshed.
- It is a game of survival, where you need to protect your group, get resources to survive, and defend yourself from death.
- The gameplay moves ahead depending on your actions.
- You need to complete tasks like building furniture, create a herbal workshop to heal, and so on.
- The survival simulation game has many scenarios that prompt you to make decisions. There are moral issues that you need to address in this game.
- There is an add-on game that has a child survivor to take care of, to add to your problems.
- You have to rely on autosaves to save game progress.
