this war of mine

Happy Monday, Geekly Gang! We’re back with another video game review, one that’s overdue. I’ve talked about This War of Mine in various forums, even The Pixels, a few years ago, so it was only a matter of time before we, JK Geekly, would cover the video game in a review.

I love this game. This War of Mine harkens back to my days as an imagery analyst/targeteer. Typically, I’ve seen the world of This World of Mine from a top-down view. This video game made me see the people I affected from a ground level, and I love it for it. But how does This World of Mine rate against JK Geekly’s video game review criteria? Let’s find out.

Mechanisms: 8/10

This War of Mine does a great job of balancing the various things you need to survive. Yes. This War of Mine is, first and foremost, a survival game. The denizens of your building attempt to survive the duration of a war, ripping apart this undisclosed Eastern European nation, although with hindsight, we could assign This War of Mine’s setting as Ukraine, circa 2025.

This War of Mine’s game mechanisms are a difficult category to rate. On one hand, This War of Mine offers a singular experience of rummaging through a war-torn nation, while gathering supplies. On the other hand, it uses pre-established game mechanisms to express its subject matter. I’m giving This War of Mine an eight out of ten because it does enough to subvert the typical game mechanisms of acquiring resources. This may play into This War of Mine’s story/narrative, but while the specific mechanisms one can find in this game can be found in other video games, the narrative weight these choices offer makes This War of Mine unique.

Above Image from GameDesigning.Org

Gameplay Loop: 9/10

This War of Mine is addictive. I don’t care if you’re looking through a survival game like Ark: Survival Evolved or The Survivalists, This War of Mine equals or bests these survival games, only with the experience of someone who may have to experience war overseas. Even though you could find a similar gaming experience with any number of survival games, none of them put you in the shoes of someone having to fight for their lives in a real-world scenario.

Few survival games balance the day-to-day survival with the greater good like This War of Mine. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to choose how much I intend to “steal” from an elderly couple, while gathering enough to keep my survivors alive. This War of Mine offers an odd balancing act unseen by most video games. No two plays of This War of Mine will turn out the same. That’s a strength.

Add in the Little Ones expansion, and that adds an extra layer of complexity. Few games have me replaying its core game through a different lens than This War of Mine. This game blends a tasty survival game with an empathy game. I’ve found myself making choices in This War of Mine that I think I’d never make until presented with the scenarios this game includes. This is the This War of Mines’ greatest strength.

Narrative and Storytelling: 9/10

This War of Mine offers a branching narrative that changes each time you play it. I’ve lost count many times I’ve replayed this title and see where the story takes me. This adds to This War of Mine’s narrative and storytelling. It’s a glorified “Choose Your Own Adventure” story with so many branching arcs that it’ll take multiple playthroughs to unearth each one.

Add in expansions that further explore this unnamed Eastern European nation, and This War of Mine has narratives so deep, you can spend months exploring them. But you don’t even need expansions. If you play the game on Steam, This War of Mine is host to a plethora of mods. Any one of them can shake up the gameplay, and sometimes, the story. This War of Mine offers a fertile ground to tell any number of interesting stories set against the backdrop of war.

User Interface: 7/10

This War of Mine has plenty of menus, and for the most part, it does a great job of presenting these menus to its players. But the sheer volume makes it easy to get confused. Honestly, I’ve had to play portions of This War of Mine a second time because I didn’t understand the ramifications of my actions or choose something I didn’t want to choose from one of the game’s multiple menus and selections within selections of head’s up displays.

To be fair, it’s easy to get lost in This War of Mine’s multiple workshop (or production area) menus or dialogue exchanges or even its basic movement and interaction with the world around you. This War of Mine includes a steep learning curve, even if the game tries its best to handhold you through the early stages of that steep learning curve. Without these handholding efforts, I would give This War of Mine a below-average rating. Since the game goes out of its way to try and teach you these menus, it gains a well above average rating.

Graphics: 7/10

This War of Mine offers above-average graphics, but grading this game’s graphics does it a disservice. Even though the game is over a decade old, This War of Mine is timeless. Even during its 2014 release, This War of Mine harkened back to the past. And oddly enough, the future. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter which war This War of Mine is supposed to represent. By extension, it doesn’t matter how dated This War of Mine’s graphics become. It matters the vibe This War of Mine captures. And if we consider the vibe, This War of Mine may score above a ten.

Audio: 8/10

If you know me, you know I seldom play video games with the sound on, but I make an exception with This War of Mine. This game’s soundtrack does enough to carry me to a war-torn Eastern European nation. I challenge anyone playing this game to listen to This War of Mine’s desolation. It’s haunting.

Replay Factor: 8/10

This War of Mine has so many expansions and mods (from Steam users) that you can play and replay This War of Mine for countless hours. The only reason why I put a damper on This War of Mine’s replay factor is its subject matter. I don’t know how long gamers can play a game meant to show the horrors of war. Each person’s mileage will vary. If you’re sensitive to war, you may not play This War of Mine very long. If you’re interested in putting yourself in the shoes of someone struggling to stay alive in a war-torn nation, This War of Mine will offer thousands of hours of gameplay. This War of Mine won’t be for everyone, but I don’t think that’s the point. Step into the darker, more personal corners of war if you dare.

Aggregated Score: 8

This War of Mine may not be for everyone, and that’s okay. For those who want to explore what they might do if confronted with living in a war-torn Eastern European nation, This War of Mine offers numerous morally gray options.

Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. It’s another Sunday, so we have another week of Geek News. There is plenty of tariff news and updates, but we talk about that a lot. Let’s sandwich those stories with more cheerful news.

Thunderbolts* Fan Screenings

Thunderbolts* becomes the first MCU movie in history to receive advanced screenings for fans. Typically, advanced screenings are reserved for critics, who must sign a non-disclosure agreement and a gag order preventing them from leaking any information about the movie. Advance movie screenings are meant for critics to form an opinion and write a review in advance of the movie’s release. Those reviews will feature zingers the studio can use in future trailers and teasers. But Thunderbolts*’ advanced screening includes fans. Fans don’t care about a gag order.

In fact, the MCU may be banking on fans talking, generating word-of-mouth buzz. It takes a week or so for word-of-mouth to take effect. Thunderbolts* dropping advanced screenings with fans will accelerate this effect. But be careful on the internet. Thunderbolts* may become the MCU movie with the most spoilers.

Geekly has no idea what this development means for the MCU or the Thunderbolts* movie. Will this become the norm? Is Marvel so confident about Thunderbolts* that they’re comfortable with whatever fans will say? Who knows? I will say that heading into this year’s slate of films, Thunderbolts* had me intrigued. Thunderbolts* wasn’t one of the MCU’s make-or-break 2025 titles, but in our 2025 MCU Preview, I listed it as a potential sleeper hit.

Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Order Wave One Ends

On Thursday, April 24, 2025, Nintendo opened United States pre-orders for its latest hybrid game console, the Switch 2. Pre-orders continued until the order quota was reached. Taking current United States trade policies into consideration, the order quota was based on how many copies the video game company thought would yield the best results.

The Switch 2’s United States pre-order wave one lasted less than one day. Customers who were able to buy a copy won’t receive their systems until June 2025. Don’t worry if you weren’t one of the lucky few who snagged a copy. Nintendo intends to run another Switch 2 pre-order within another eight months (in time for the holidays), when the company believes it can turn a profit by sending systems to the United States. Unfortunately, staged releases for the United States are the new normal.

Rising shipping costs and tariffs have caused tech companies like Nintendo to re-evaluate their business with United States customers. This has become an issue with other business types; Geekly covers geek culture, so we’re interested in video games and board games. We’ll have more on board games in the next segment. Getting back to the Switch 2, most of Geekly’s statistics are derived from an interview with a GameStop manager. I live in the greater Omaha area, and according to the GameStop manager, the Midwest quad-state region (Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri) received 2,000 total Nintendo Switch 2 systems. That is 2,000 Switch 2s for a population of over 14 million. Granted, most of the 14 million people living in those four states have no desire to purchase a Switch 2 at this time, but Wal-Mart overordered and had to issue tens of thousands of refunds in the Midwest quad-state region alone.

Geekly will keep you posted on when the next waves of United States Switch 2 pre-orders will occur. Good luck to all of you who want a copy. We’ll also give updates on any new developments. Hopefully, there will be a resolution to the United States’ trade war soon.

Board Game Company Madness

We’ve discussed board game companies and the effect rising tariffs have had on them in the past; this will be a quick update. Final Frontier Games and Boardlandia have closed their doors. Greater Than Games and CMON Games have suspended all future crowdfunding campaigns and board games under development, and laid off countless employees until a viable manufacturing/shipping option becomes available. Small board game publisher, Rookie Mage Games, joined forces with three other indie board game companies in suing President Trump over his new tariffs.

According to Jordan McLaughlin, founder of Rookie Mage Games (via The Columbus Dispatch), “I will not stand by and allow my years of hard work and the hard work of many other small businesses to be ruined in a desperate political ploy for attention and ego validation.” McLaughlin continues, “Attempting to move manufacturing jobs back to the United States is a worthwhile effort. There are smart ways to do it, and there are dumb ways.” Numerous board game companies, including Stonemaier Games (producer of Wingspan and Scythe) have joined Rookie Mage Games’ lawsuit. We’ll keep you posted on this emerging story.

This War of Mine, Second Edition Launches on Gamefound

The award-winning board game adaptation of This War of Mine returns to Gamefound. This War of Mine features countless morally gray choices for players to make while they attempt to survive in a war-torn country. Since the game is fully cooperative, players share the experience and the consequences.

This War of Mine, Second Edition showcases numerous updated maps to explore. Producer Awaken Realms is known for its ornate miniatures, and This War of Mine, Second Edition includes additional scenario books. Countless hours of griping stories await. This War of Mine, Second Edition has plenty of pledge options on its Gamefound page.

Solo Game Dicemancy Releases on Gamefound

I love the increased number of great solo board games. Dicemancy looks interesting. It’s a tower defense game with plenty of combotastic abilities. That’s music to my ears. Players construct unique spells they think will help them ward off enemies. I like the domino-style spell cards players can stack for power-ups. Dicemancy plays quickly (about 45 minutes), has minimal setup, and doesn’t appear to take up too much table space.

Dicemancy features adorable art, and at $25 (plus $5 for shipping), it’s a low-cost option for a new board game. Feel free to give Dicemancy’s Gamefound page a look.

That’s all we have for Geekly News this week. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Tag: this war of mine

Video Game Review: This War of Mine