14 DAY TRIAL // Much of the tension in This War of Mine is linked to the fact that it often looks like there won’t be enough food the next day to feed the three survivors gamers start off with, and gaining access to more nutrition could get the character doing the scavenging hurt or even killed.
For the first few days, I often had to pick which members of the group would spend the day without food and not doing any work in order to conserve the meager resources I had access to, and only a rather fortuitous visit from a trader meant that, on the fifth day of their survival, all my characters managed to get a full cooked dinner which included some vegetables.
After that, I became obsessed with the little image of carrots, searching for them feverishly during all my scavenging trips, and the fact that every day I gave my group food from a can was a reason for disappointment.
And that’s when opportunity knocked on the door of my shelter in the guise of a new character, pursued by bad guys and looking for a place to hide.
It’s a sign of the solid writing in This War of Mine that I believed his entire story without a second thought and I allowed this new guy to come in before I wondered about the practical implications of my choice.
The game forces gamers to obsessively evaluate their reserves each day, and a fourth mouth to feed means that I need to get access to more ingredients each day by stealing them, finding them or simply trading for them.
Power in numbers versus being lean and efficient
This War of Mine is not about success but about survival, and having one more character to control can be a boon, especially when it comes to the sleep and guard rotation, but it also creates responsibility.
After four days with the new survivor, I was pretty sure I made a mistake by allowing him to come in and seriously considered sending him to scavenge in a very dangerous place so that he might get killed.
This would make it easier for me to feed my original trio, but it would make them sad or even depressed, which can lead to suicide in the game.
Hunger ended up taking out my entire team, one by one, and I once again admired the unflinching focus This War of Mine brings on the plight of civilians.
