This War of Mine Reviews

This War of Mine is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8.5 / 10.0
Nov 28, 2018

This War of Mine encompasses most of the difficulties you’d expect from the survival genre and throws on a pretty grim and depressing layer of reality to boot. The tests here aren’t just of your ability to figure out what the best crafting paths or things to prioritize in gathering may be but also of your ability to manage very human problems as well. There will be many ways the game can frustrate you as you try to figure out how to survive in this bleak situation but it’s the glimmers of hope, small successes, and human stories in this horrible situation that also make it memorable.

Read full review

7.2 / 10.0
Nov 28, 2018

This War of Mine is setting up an unique setting and does this very well. Unfortunately sometimes the game feels a bit repetitive.

Review in Dutch | Read full review

85 / 100
Nov 26, 2018

This War of Mine Complete Edition for Nintendo Switch is a game that reflects the crudity of war like no other. It is not intense or spectacular at the visual level, but it is capable of transmitting like few others, putting us in the shoes of survivors trying to survive with difficulty in the middle of a warlike conflict.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Nov 26, 2018

As you begin to learn more about the systems with each passing day, it's easy not to notice real-world minutes turn into hours. I found myself restarting a campaign quite often after discovering a new strategy and my enjoyment increased each time. This is definitely one of those games that if you play late at night, you might just find yourself trading in some sleep to get through just one more day.

Read full review

Meh
Apr 15, 2018

This War of Mine is possibly something many gamers *should* experience for a few hours, but would they enjoy any part of it? That’s a completely different question.

Read full review

Digiato
Shayan Karami
Top Critic
89 / 100
Feb 20, 2018

This War of Mine is a wonderful experience which drowns us in its realistic urban war and tells us its tragic story, one that doesn't involve happy endings.

Review in Persian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Jun 17, 2016

A recommended expansion for fans of the original.

Read full review

GameSkinny
Zack Thompson
Top Critic
Jan 28, 2016

Deep Silver and 11 Bit Studios gives you a dark, unsettling look into the Horrors of War.

Read full review

9 / 10
Jul 23, 2015

Every now and again we like losing because then when we win it's the sweetest victory, though with This War of Mine it probably wouldn't feel like a victory at all

Read full review

76 / 100
Feb 23, 2015

This War of Mine successfully blends exploration, stealth, crafting and survivor management in a bleak setting. As most games in the genre however, the gameplay becomes mundane after you've established a winning formula.

Read full review

Geeks Under Grace
Cooper D Barham
6.7 / 10.0
Feb 14, 2015

This War of Mine is a fantastic jolt of dark, indie magic.

Read full review

9 / 10.0
Jan 22, 2015

Whether you choose to perceive it through a moral lens or not, there's a great tactical survival mechanic driving this game beneath the didactics.

Read full review

Jan 21, 2015

'This War of Mine' is one of the best PC releases I've played from 2014. It is not empowering like other games. It's very difficult, and the first couple of playthroughs especially can be frustrating. It's also poignant and lets players tell their own stories without a heavy script or distracting voice acting. It might make you sad, but it's worth experiencing.

Read full review

Jan 9, 2015

A deeply atmospheric, emotionally compelling game that manages to treat war as a serious topic and examines the hard choices made by those caught in the middle of conflict. You might not particularly enjoy your time with This War Of Mine, but it's definitely a game you ought to play, being one of the finest critiques of war that this medium has to offer.

Read full review

8.7 / 10.0
Jan 9, 2015

Real-life problems and real-life challenges. Nobody's gonna hold your hand. You have to fight for yourself and to protect the ones you care about. This War of Mine is a brave endeavor. We see wonders done with this game in a potential sequel; one that will hopefully get a bigger budget, so we can see the genre evolve even more.

Read full review

8 / 10
Dec 28, 2014

An effective lesson on the casualties of war

Read full review

Shaun Joy
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Dec 25, 2014

A rewarding experience that will test your moral system, and brings a whole new narrative of war for people to listen to.

Read full review

8.8 / 10.0
Dec 22, 2014

This War of Mine delivers a setting that is depressing and unsettling. It's a slow-paced resource management strategy game that will hang over you long after you walk away from it. Admittedly, it tip-toes into being melodramatic at times, and the controls could benefit from some hotkeys to back up the point-and-click interface. But the mechanics and setting are so well done, it's an absolute must play for anyone looking for an example of how all the different parts of a game can come together to create an affecting and immersive experience for a player.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Dec 14, 2014

Of course, a great deal of impressive work went into the stylised visual of This War of Mine that might not have gone into something destined for a school computer or a museum plaque. Its pencil-shaded graphics touchingly evoke political cartoons and the dreary, dark colour palate of so much war art to sap life and hope from your course of events. Generally in games, the wonderful efforts put into visuals are to add to your enjoyment, but This War of Mine is instead making use of the medium of art to help put its message across - simultaneously establishing a valid place of its own within. This War of Mine blurs the boundaries of artistic and educational exhibition and in doing so demonstrates, significantly, how effortlessly the medium of videogames can lend itself to much more than entertainment, but if you're looking for fun, you've come to the wrong place. The message here is how fragile humanity can be when the comforts of modern society disappear and a question: Do 'good' and 'bad' choices exist, or just survival of the most ruthless? It's hard to score This War of Mine as a game, because you can't win it. You can survive with enough selfish tact. You can also be more community spirited at your own expense, but then if you die will the community fail without you around anyway? This is a poignant and reflective experience, thought through with meticulous depth. The gameplay is very simple, and that's probably deliberate too - the amount of thrill you get playing it will depend on what kind of beast you are.

Read full review

9.6 / 10.0
Dec 11, 2014

This War of Mine is a fun, uniquely stylish and well-written game that gives players a fresh take on an old setting and asks them to try and survive.

Read full review