The board game This war of Mine was designed by Polish designers Michał Oracz and Jakub Wiśniewski, developed and released on Kickstarter by Awaken Realms and released to retail by Galakta in 2017. Nevertheless, the parts of this review that might potentially spoil something for some readers are clearly marked. This story is based on my decisions and my way of playing as much as it is based on the narrative content of the game. In my opinion my review is not spoiling anything, but I do recount the story that unfolded during the five-hour campaign I played. I read several reviews and even watched parts of playthroughs before I bought this game and played it and that didn’t lessen the impact of the narrative. It’s not a legacy game and it’s not a Choose Your Own Adventure-style game. I will also look at the 2018 expansion Tales From The Ruined City and at replayability. In part two of the review I will cover scenarios – an alternative, shorter way of playing. I usually have neither the confidence nor the insights and ideas required to write a review after playing a game just once, but my first play of This War of Mine was a memorable, full experience. This is the first part of a two-part review of This War of Mine, written after playing one basic campaign that ended in utter misery after a little over five hours.
To those who did: Thank you! It was just what I was looking for and more. Six people recommended This War of Mine: The Board Game. People suggested about a dozen games all in all. The 1 Player Guild is a gold mine of information and a very friendly place. I soon got several replies, because that’s how it works over there. I asked for a game that “takes itself seriously”. Unable to get the game out of my mind I turned to the 1 Player Guild forums on BoardGameGeek looking for other games with a strong narrative, a similar amount of unpredictability and gradually increasing tension. Sometimes more story means less player influence. I was taken by how a game could be both so thought-provoking, and so clearly rooted in history – even educational – and still allow the player to have agency and make important decisions. The game deals with a difficult subject without trivializing or glorifying. Black Orchestra has been a very involving and challenging gaming experience every time I’ve played it. Not long ago, I wrote a very favorable review of Black Orchestra, a historical game about the German resistance to Nazism and the attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
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