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There is nothing more fragile than the human spirit. It's tested the most during times of war.
Without any food, medicine, supplies — not to mention threat of rebel attacks — you must do what you have to do in order to survive. This means rummaging through piles of rubble, stealing supplies and even committing murder. While you might try to hang onto morals for as long as you can, you will quickly learn that humanity has stooped to new lows, killing others like dogs. It's only a matter of days before you will change, too.
This is This War of Mine.
Developed by 11 bit studios, this beautifully-executed mobile app is a soul-crushing game of survival that will leave a lasting impact on gamers. So much so that it's the latest game that I can't seem to put down — no matter how numbered my fictional days of survival sometimes are.
Set in a war zone during a fictional conflict of a nation, This War of Mine is the mobile companion app to the popular PC game that launched on Steam in November last year.
In this suvival adventure game, 11 bit CEO Grzegorz Miechowski wanted the gamer to expereinced from the perspective of regular civilans, not soldiers.
"He gave us examples of what extreme challenges people face when surrounded by war, and it was not only a question of physical challenges, but hard moral dilemmas," senior writer on the game, Pawel Miechowski, told Tech Times. "For example, what to do when your family is starving and you have to get food? What to do when you meet people in need while you are in already very bad situation? Instantly, we got ignited by the idea," he said, adding that the end product is a mature game for a mature gamer.
The game starts off in a run-down building that serves as your character's shelter. Each time around, the player typically starts off with anywhere from two to four characters, depending on how many stories the player unlocks over time.
The first time around should be used as a trial run to get yourself familiar with the controls. It may seem weird to have little icons everywhere on the screen, but trust me, you get used it quickly. The player controls each of their characters, who all come with their own backstory, skills and vices (I make sure to use Pavel as my go-to scavenger since he is fast).
Start off by collecting all the supplies at your (sometimes not so) safe haven and build items you need to increase your chance of survival. When the night comes, the player must choose who will go out and look for supplies, who will guard and who will sleep. The player is then sent out with the character who is scavenging (bring a weapon with you for protection), who then looks for items the group needs, like food, tools and medicine, making sure to make it back to the shelter before daylight.
"This game shows that war is the hardest test to a human," Miechowski said. "To picture this message in the game, Michal Drozdowski (the game's creative director) created an environment in which you're often faced with situations (like in reality) where you have no idea what to do but still, you need to make some choice."
These choices include protecting women from gang members, deciding whether or not to let newcomers into the shelter and being forced to murder someone else. It's either them or you, and desperate situations can make you do ugly and desperate things.
"The message is that war can happen anytime, anywhere. And when it happens, it doesn't matter if you're Polish, Russian, Jewish or American," Miechowski said. "Your political opinions and religious beliefs are not important. What matters is that you want to survive and protect loved ones. The question is, what do you do to survive?"
Of course, theses brutal decisions can mentally and spiritually break the character, so brace yourself for heartbreak.
"Later, you see consequences of your choices, such as people depressed or even suffering from a breakdown," he added. "That was necessary to trigger empathy so you can immerse into the experience and feel the message behind it."
I found this the hard way during a few runs when my characters would become severely depressed and wouldn't even get up off the floor, would choose to leave the group or worse — commit suicide. After spending days learning how to cope and survive as these characters, I became so invested in them in a way I had not expected.
This is especially the case after I reached my longest run, 25 days into the war, before all my characters died. After having a stove, a furnace (necessary for surviving the harsh winter), rat traps for food, a cigarette business, alcohol and lots of guns, I was devastated that all my hard work was now thrown down the drain. While this part of This War of Mine is slightly frustrating, I immediately would jump right back in to restart. I was hooked on the heartbreak. If I could just change one small decision, I could make it to the end.
"The cost of staying true to one's principles, to the moral code, may even be beyond one's limits," Miechowski said. "Showing brutality of war in a game makes it a quite anti-war manifest, I believe. War may be devastating for human condition no matter what it is."
Each time is slightly different than the last, while still being tragically devastating, yet refreshingly captivating at the same time.
Setting the mood with with weeping violins and bombs detonating in the background, This War of Mine tugs at the heart strings while giving the gamer thicker skin as each day progresses. You'll do anything to survive.
Eventually, the siege does end, and Miechowski revealed that once the player makes it with one survivor, you will know you made it.
"Still, the question is, 'what makes you win?' Surviving comes sometimes with a heavy cost," he adds.
The smartphone versions of This War of Mine was released on Nov. 11, after the team redesigned the entire interface following the tablet edition that was released back in July.
For gamers who can't put this title down, 11 bit studios is releasing an expansion of the experience for PS4 and Xbox One, titled This War of Mine: The Little Ones, on Jan. 29, 2016.
"Kids bring to this world different emotions — a little [of] joy, innocence," Miechowski said. "Even in war, kids are still kids. This is the extra message in The Little Ones."
He could not yet confirm when The Little Ones will be released for mobile, but the team does want to one day bring it to mobile platforms.
This War of Mine is available to download for iOS and Android for $14.99.
