This war of mine.

[Hangthebuggers]

This is a masterpiece. Honestly, I don't know if it's the way I'm feeling right now, but this incredibly bleak and haunting game has hit all the right strings for me.

http://www.11bitstudios.com/games/16/this-war-of-mine



Quite often I've found a game that described itself as being 'mature', which basically meant it had tits and arses and drugs as content. But this game is something profound. Intelligent. Genius almost.

What is it? A war game? Oh, how original I hear you all say. But this is a war game from the perspective of a tiny group of innocent civilians in a city under siege. A day by day attempt at surviving against all odds. No food, no fresh water, no radio, no beds... And growing hunger, depression, guilt, sadness... Each character really stands out as an individual, you're gently reminded by a normal looking portrait of your selected character in the lower right hand corner. Her thoughts and ambitions, his lack of cigarettes, the woe and despair.

How does it work?
You control a ragtag bunch of survivors (normal people like cooks or firemen) with an interface that is presented beautifully and simply. It's a stealthy 2d side scroller, almost a platformer of sorts, controlled by simple pointing and clicking on various markers. But it's also a sandbox, crafting style, survival game...  And it's also a hard hitting piece of art. I don't want to sound pretentious, but after two play through's, I had to come here and tell people about it... The music is stunning. The atmosphere is unsettling.

You are essentially based in a ruined building with many rooms and broken floors and not much furniture. In this base you can do various things, like craft workbenches or build tools or collect rainwater or cook food or repair things. But of course you need supplies to do all this.

Initially you can loot your house for basics, but you'll soon get hungry and desperate. You might get lucky at first, a passing trader willing to barter supplies. But soon you'll need to find your own stuff and that means heading out into the chaotic city.

Every night, you have the option of splitting tasks between your group, such as scavenging for food and supplies to feed your people and securing your base. Or guarding your own place against would-be robbers. Or simply hiding away from the war and sleeping in your leaky home and going hungry for another day.

I really can't praise it enough. Once the areas of the maps start opening each night, you get a glimpse at how other people are surviving the war and this brilliant style of story telling soon begins to creep up on you. Other people are out looting too, whilst others are hiding away from the war. Or worse, using it to their advantage. Like the gangsters holed up in the hotel. The one with all the screams coming from.

The desperation of the group really only becomes apparent after a couple of days without food, but I was quite gobsmacked to see the brilliantly animated fits of despair my characters fell into after not finding any loot.

My play through (11 days) ** Spoilers below **

A great example of this was when my starving character tried to approach a market place, in a very desperate hope to trade all my wood and tobacco for some food, as I was extremely close to death. As my character staggered towards the group, with hope in his eyes, he made the mistake of looking in the wrong dustbin and the market traders mistook my desperate cravings as trouble and promptly executed me....... Fuck, he had all the wood and tobacco and was our last chance for bartering for food.

My other two characters got depressed. One of them refused to leave the house and stayed in bed all the time, slowly starving away. My other character fixed up a radio. A tiny beacon of hope. It unlocked some things on my map. I found a tiny quiet house, it was occupied by an elderly couple.... It had food. Shit.

Did I really want to take the soft option and raid a pensioners home, rather than braving the supermarket or an army base? Sadly, yes. Through sheer desperation.

So I raided them, but deliberately avoided hurting any of them (I'm not a complete bastard). They had next to nothing. No food. I went home, sad and depressed and staggered into the house to find my third character had died from gangrene.

The next day, my final character hung himself.

Fucking hell.





Sorry to ramble, but it's the first game in a long time that's surprised me. At it's core, it's a simple game about surviving, but beyond that it raises and challenges a lot of questions about human morality. Do you really want to raid the church and nick the tinned food donations?

Overall, grimly beautiful. 9/10

[hoverdonkey]

Looks amazing. I read something about it a couple of months ago on Polygon I think. Glad to read it lives up to expectations.

[Hangthebuggers]

Bastard. I managed to survive 30 days, including the beginnings of a harsh winter until a stroke of bad luck came my way and finished us off. My only healthy scavenger suffered a mortal injury whilst on a raid and as a result, I lost access to most of my tools and weapons. The rest of my group were sick and started dropping like flies when I realised i had nobody left to send out on runs or to build tools or gather fuel..... and so, they all froze to death.

[mook]

it does look good, but i can't play depressing games for too long, they do my fragile noggin in. banished fuck me up, i fear this would be worse.

[Hangthebuggers]

it does look good, but i can't play depressing games for too long, they do my fragile noggin in. banished fuck me up, i fear this would be worse.

Yeah, I had to go for a walk afterwards, it did get to me a little. It really is quite heavy/desperate when you get into the mechanics of the game.

[hoverdonkey]

This is a very good little feature on it from Polygon.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/17/7237379/this-game-will-make-you-hate-yourself

[mook]

This is a very good little feature on it from Polygon.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/17/7237379/this-game-will-make-you-hate-yourself

hang on...

The next day I beat a priest to death with a shovel.

i might have been a tad hasty. i've not taken a gaming whupasskicking to a religious sort since the days off hog-tieing nuns and dropping them on the train tracks in RDR.

[Big Jack McBastard]

This is a fucking beauty of a game, it's like digital heroin. At first I was all: 'Ah shit every day is on a timer = BIN' but it turns out it's ok, in fact it's better than ok it's horribly awesome.

My first lot lasted 20 days, then went kamikaze mad in enemy turf one after another at my nihilistic behest.

Second lot lasted a thumping 46 days, with the last eight being spent with one miserable alternately starving/depressed woman on her own until some new cock turned up looking all promising and perky then promptly got himself offed by military wankers while she died in her bed.

That was yeasterday.

Today I've had the Third lot who were a rubbish experiment in a hideously hostile environment that lasted 22 days.
Current bunch are on day 17, they're 'sort of' stable but hungry as hell and right on the verge of trouble bad.

I love the little variations in each set up, you get some set environments but the inhabitants change from one game to the next to trip you up, so where there's a friendly pastor in a church you can just waltz into in one iteration, he's replaced by a AK wielding psycho who you have to climb over scaffolding to get shot by in the next.

The military outpost might trade food for fags and moonshine for a whole run, then chase your ass out of there with rifles drawn when your next band of dirty fucks gets their still working,

Rob the granny and kill her basement-dweller protector son, tell the kids with the half dead mother to beat feet the fuck off your lawn, help the local scallies nick a FEMA crate and then dob them into the post-apocalyptic po-po for a few cans of tat and a bandage, tell neighbour missus her and her teen daughter best get accustomed to Raider dicks every other night.

Gaaah it's a bastard. I love it.

I may do a diary of my next one.

[Big Jack McBastard]

32 days for that lot. Town square massacre cos I went bin rifling, pfeh, that shit's fair game mofos! One went down so I tooled up the rest and one-by-oned them into the melee/firing line, We got 4 kills but then, so did they...Grrr.

Was all going well too, I'd turned it around after a rocky start and had the stills pumping out booze for the local pissheads, we were going ok for a moment there.

The second you think to try anything audacious (that doesn't involve sending your sneaky girly to hide in the shadows with a knife) you're goosed, the enemies are packing some serious hardware to be taking on a level full of the cunts with one berk.

[Big Jack McBastard]

It's like The Sims set in a really shitty neighbourhood.

You're constantly upgrading the place and on the lookout for how they feel and when they get their dinner, their little blinking avatars staring dead-eyed at you, as you run about like a blue-arsed fly trying to make sure they don't need yet another round of ad-hoc therapy (delivered by a similarly depressed housemate) cos Sneaky Lass went out killing geriatrics for their tins of spam, which everyone is now eating.

"<slurp>I wish the killing wasn't necessary <burrrp> but we're only doing <nom> what we must to survive <scran>."

The next day: "How could Runner Blokey steal from the hospital?!" - Said the fat beardy Cook dude while dressing his wounds.

I feel ruined after getting the bloke with 17 inventory slots last time around, how the hell am I supposed to live without him in future tries?

[Bhazor]

A really interesting idea but much too easy to game. Once you know which locations are safe and where all the best caches are it loses its atmosphere and tension. It becomes nothing but numbers and bars. A little random generation would have gone a long way.

It also feels much more like a zombie apocalypse game than the real world war civilian sim they were going for.

[Big Jack McBastard]

I dunno about 'easy to game', it *sort of* gets progressively easier as you learn about the locations yeah, but it's balls hard to survive for any length of time in the first place when one is going in blind.

The variation in who and what you start with can really throw a spanner in the works and at the best of times one false move in the wrong place sees a shitstorm of trouble head your way. A wasted scavenging night can mean the difference between needing 3 meals and 6 and that's a hell of a lot in that world.

My 6th lot are up and running at day 16 (5th lot were a crappy write-off dead at 13 days) and just had our first death raiding the hospital, got it cleared of buggers now so we can scour it clean of gear tomorrow but the depression is setting in cos they've all been rather heedlessly murdersome early on:  Fucking over the tramps at the school, offing Billy Bob Bollocksack and his parents, Mansoning the Quiet House and now this, they were briefly content but it's catching up with them... Hopefully the free slot will be filled by Johnny 17 Slots and we can die in a completely different stupid way this time.

[Big Jack McBastard]

Bah day 21 and (Marc) Marin joined us instead but the hospital was fairly fat, finished clearing it out and chopping up all their furniture for wood now so we've got loads in. The real issue is food again, hope the bloody garage opens soon.

Currently have a iffy looking geezer at the door asking for some muscle for doing over a nearby manor, he looks properly dodgy.

I'm in.

[Big Jack McBastard]

32 days again, kamikaze assault on the brothel after Pavle died when some previously unseen shit in the abandoned half of the church shot him to bits on a shitty excursion, fucked it all off after that, managed to free the girls from the brothel but 3 of my guys pegged it doing so, most were ill or injured anyway and Sneaky Lass got gutted in her sickbed.

Grand times were had.

[hoverdonkey]

Ah Jack, this is so much better than Adrian Mole.

[Big Jack McBastard]

It's kinda hard to do a diary for them cos everything can go sideways so quickly and spiral so early that it's a bit depressing. I had a bunch I was considering doing one for who died at day 11[nb]not that I'm casting dispersions on Htb's first go there[/nb] last night. An ill-timed death (cos I accidentally clicked the wrong scavenging location during a cold snap) and that was that, not enough wood for the furnace, not enough food for the hungry, not enough people to give therapy, no sign of the trader so nothing coming in everyone gives up and stays in bed then gets killed in their sleep when the raiders pop by.

Pretty grim.

Christ they're some whiny fuckers though, it's like taking care of trust-fund kids who bitch and moan at the first sign that their dinner is cold or there's no fags in, or that someone else going out killing for their lunch and pills is enough to put them into a depression cycle. I'd be over the bloody moon to have a lunatic murderer on hand who'd readily nip out and risk life and limb to get my scran in on a night were I in their shoes. You'd think living in Post-Apocalyptia would've toughened them up a bit by the time they're holed up in there.

"I wouldn't mind another helping"

WELL YOU'RE GETTING FUCK ALL ELSE NOW TO GO TO BED YOU WHINGING GIT.

The worst ones are the ones who turn up ill, so you're either forced to shove them full of precious pills at the expense of the able bodied and let them stink up a bed for ages, waste a night sending them to the hospital, or else let them die and depress the shit out of everyone else in the process. Urgh.

[Big Jack McBastard]

Another thought occurs: Is there a way to *win* this? A number of days that have to pass for example? Or is it just a grind into the dust once all the locations are exhausted?

[Bored of Canada]

Another thought occurs: Is there a way to *win* this? A number of days that have to pass for example? Or is it just a grind into the dust once all the locations are exhausted?

The war does end after a slightly shifting amount of days from what I've heard from a friend.
I've tried playing this but couldn't really engage with it.
It's the kind of thematic premise where it's all trying to say, "War is Hell _tm" to me, but I understand that "War is Hell _tm", and doesn't seem to say anything more nuanced than that to me.

I haven't given it a fair shake, to be fair, but I've played a load of these types of browser games where you have to scavenge, build up your base and then defend your home with all the slew of flash zombie survival ones that came out back in the day, and the system doesn't really appeal to me.

I'll probably give it a red hot go some other time and will realise there's a more nuanced point underneath it all, but these are just some uninformed impressions. 

[mook]

Ah Jack, this is so much better than Adrian Mole.

heh... it is. i love the way jack writes about games. the lad is good at it.

[small_world]

Yeah, I've really enjoyed this thread thus far.
Have never played the game and if it's on PC, probably never will as my PC wouldn't handle it...
But all the same, I really love this game.

[mook]

Yeah, I've really enjoyed this thread thus far.
Have never played the game and if it's on PC, probably never will as my PC wouldn't handle it...
But all the same, I really love this game.

your pc might... it's not a mad "needs i7s and cards with load of fans on 'em" game.

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

try that and see if you're curious... heh, who am i kidding, you're more than curious SON!! haha go.

[Big Jack McBastard]

Aye it's not a hog or anything, just checked and at high settings and at maximum resolution it only uses about 650Mb of memory. In comparison an instance of Firefox uses about 300Mb give or take (depends what you're doing though) and The Sims 4 runs at about 1.5Gb, DayZ runs at about 2.3Gb iirc but that's got a massive world to load up, this is nowt in comparison sizewise.

My 8th (?) lot are doing alarmingly well, it sickeningly started off in winter with Marin, Emilia and 17-slot Johnny (whatever the fuck his name is... Bruno) thought I was fucked but it's toughened them (and me) up for hardship and now they're 21 days in, the weather has just cleared so it's getting warmer and they're sitting pretty on (all but 2) fully upgraded benches and have a veg stand actually fucking growing food in the house for once!! Yarrrs! Also got a couple of traps set up to catch the mangy, partially frozen vermin that shares our lovely hovel, so a very slow drip feed of disgusting dinners is in the making. Holes in the walls are all sorted, door is alarmed, got bandages, guns, ammo and the odd pack of pills in too, though Marin was forever getting sniffly and tearing into them like Michael Jackson on the Propofol while the heater was low on fuel.

Soft targets are getting a bit thin now though, most are scoured completely clean thanks to Bruno, a lot of the 'could go either way' locations have hostiles in them this time around so shit is gonna get a bit hairy soon unless I go out chopping cupboards up for wood and doing boring trading.

Got Marko for the first time this run and have used him as the disposable fighter sort cos I don't want Marin or Bruno getting scrapes (although Emilia is fucking useless and spent 8 days in bed malingering with a cold at the beginning, should have sent her) he's done quite well, got 4 kills and freed a hostage on day 16, Bruno cracked the rapey soldier in the Supermarket round the head with a shovel at day 8 too so everyone is properly chuffed with the size of their man-balls, they've also got a guitar (they're all shit at it) a radio, 5 bottles of homemade hooch and about 40 fags!

They're happy as a multitude Larries, I even had a couple of the cunts 'Well fed' and 'Content' for a minute there which was a shocking first, I wasn't aware they could actually be happy.

I was sorely tempted to kill the LADS at the Garage on day 19 cos the geezer at the door was being a wanker about how much he wanted for wood (snowing and all that, fuel prices go up) he wanted bandages, an axe and some weed for like 10 planks and 8 poxy components, the fucking robdog. I was a hair off mullering the cunt with a crowbar but I was using Bruno and he's my precious special golden boy so I can't be having him endangered. A wasted scavenging night is not acceptable so I was very VERY tempted to mete out a knacking, I indignantly shouted "FUCK OFF!" at the screen quite loudly many times while trying to fathom the best deal I could eke out of him (I dunno what IRL people think I'm doing in this room sometimes).

Oh yeah we turned Cveta (another potential survivor) away at the door on day 12 cos she's crap, only got 8 inventory slots and 'Loves Children' is her 'skill' pffffft fuckoffoutofitlove go and freeze in the driveway ya fucking chancer we need a gnome out there.

[Hangthebuggers]

So I'm right in assuming some of the locations do have variations of events? I only ask because one time the military base started shooting at me for no real reason, whilst another time they traded booze n bullets.

Also, the Church seems to be a bit hit and miss. One time I was killed in there, another time I got in and out without really seeing anyone.

I know there's a variety of starting dynamics, such as number of survivors, different survivors, different seasons and the map unlocks slightly different every time.

My worst one was an initial spawn with just two survivors in the winter. Lasted 13 days.

[Big Jack McBastard]

Aye there's a wiki which outlines the changes, first result in google.

I think the military base is affected by a couple of things, first is don't run they regard it as a threat (I think that's what screwed me last time) and the other is time, if it's 30 odd days in they go from being tradey to fighty cos the war between them and the rebels has changed pitch. The radio gives a bit of a clue as to that.

There's also a period where the arse of booze and cigs market goes through the roof and you can trade one fag for loads of bandages and food, apparently, not seen that yet.

[kittens]

i'm gonna play this game now

[Big Jack McBastard]

A bit of advice for new folks: Get to searching piles and braking up the mounds of shit in the house right off the bat, set everyone doing something useful and get as many cleared as possible cos the stuff behind them is very handy early on. I usually make upgrading the starting utility bench the number one priority followed by a bed or two before the first night closes in. Next day get a stove and the first of the holes patched up. Chairs and the radio are semi-luxuries really and can wait until you've got a stove and boiler sorted. Don't forget to upgrade the stove and boiler to save on fuel too.

You really only need the boiler in winter mind (you may start with one) not sure if more than one helps as I've never had the gear or fuel to waste on such an outlandish notion. On the flipside the rainwater collector is useless in winter so if it starts off snowing you need not bother with one (or more) until later on.

So early on:
Upgrade the bench
Beds
Stove
Holes
Tool Bench

Bit later:
Water collector x2
(Arm)Chairs
Radio
Cig and medical bench
..and upgrade whatever you can. Tool bench in particular is useful for the hatchet and saw blades.

Later:
Door
Still
Traps
Greenhouse
Alcohol distiller (not built one yet)

Also when scavenging it's handy to shift as much stuff from the far reaches of the location to near the exit so either leave the nearest pile to the exit intact and fill it with everything for easy access or use the 'Drop' option in the Backpack menu to set your own if there isn't one, that way you can pop back with a hauler and shift a load of stuff quickly without pissing about scouring the level again and possibly getting stuck out at night.

[Big Jack McBastard]

If you're in Combat Mode as opposed to Scavenge Mode (tabs on the left while your out) people may not take kindly to you even if you're doing nowt, if you're not looking for bother change it quick provided the location bods are not immediately hostile.

[kittens]

on day seven now. pavle killed a pair of old cunts and he's kicking up a stink about it. everyone's surviving though, things seem to be going fairly well!

[kittens]

i gave pavle two dinners in one night and he cheered right up!

i'm on day 11 now i think. loving it.

[Bored of Canada]

I went in expecting to be unimpressed, but I really like the game. I don't think it says anything really unique about War or life as a civilian in war-time.
The first thing you see is a brick wall with "Fuck This War" written on it.

But as a game, it's incredibly addictive. I really enjoy it. Think I'll easily make it through the war at this point with my current guys. We're armed to the teeth with all the supplies, and people are dealing with it pretty well. We've killed some nerds, but I've been gaming it as I go, so everyone's cheerful and raring to go.