This War of Mine

The game that broke me a little and helped me heal at the same time.
This War of Mine didn’t really leave when I closed it. There was a night where I had to choose who gets the last food. I stared at the screen longer than I’d like to admit before clicking. The first time someone died in my shelter I didn’t reload. I knew I could undo it. I just sat there for a moment and left it the way it happened. After a while you stop thinking about winning. It turns into smaller questions. Who needs medicine. Who can still go outside tonight. Who might not make it through the next night.
Sometimes nothing big happens. Just rain outside, a quiet room, someone sitting on the floor. Those moments hit harder than any explosion. It’s heavy at times.
Not something I open when I want to relax. Some nights I just closed it and stared at the desktop for a bit.

I murdered a family that was defenseless. I quit the game, looked at myself in a mirror. Cried, hugged my kids. Never opened the game again. 10/10

Turns out surviving a war mostly involves rummaging through rubble, burning furniture for warmth and feeling bad about every decision you make. The Final Cut adds some nice extra content and polish, which is great, because now I can feel guilty in even higher fidelity. Bleak, gripping, and surprisingly hard to put down, like emotional sandpaper, but the premium kind. Would I recommend it? Yes. Would I play it to relax? Absolutely not.

This game should be required play in schools. In our time where the horrors of war are often romanticized by political propaganda, This War of Mine offers a rare and brutally honest portrayal of the unbearable realities of war.

I stole from an old couple to feed my starving group. Then felt guilty and restarted the game. Then stole again. Immersive.

In this day and age, this game is a must. A welcome and gentler reminder, for those of us fortunate enough not to experience war first hand, about what war really entails for most of those who get embroiled in it.
You get to witness people starving to death, girls being rounded up by shady military personnel for unspeakable ends, kids running from snipers to ensure their grandma can receive the medicine she needs to survive, even though she might die the next morning. Bleak, sure... but you also witness kindness and charity, and despite the struggle, you can feel hope.
This is not a game to play mindlessly. You must let yourself get involved in the story - you must forget this is a game at all. It is a window into a reality most of us won't have (hopefully) to experience in real life.
I've completed only single run successfully in this game, but every run I've lost reminded me of what real people, in real life, are experiencing around the world right now. And it touches your soul. It makes you feel for them... it makes you a better human. Even as the one I succeeded in came to its conclusion, I felt happiness and sadness, because as I came back to reality, I thought how this is the story of so many people around the world - how so many have suffered the same way, struggled the same way, and in the end, felt the same way when thinking about their neighbors, friends, and work colleagues who sadly didn`t make it through.
Couldn't recommend this game enough. It deserves all the awards it has gotten and some more.
"Through your arrogance and stupidity, you've opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!" - Odin Allfather.

Fun! Its cool how your characters react certain ways depending on choices you make. It is a little annoying though starting out. If your characters get to upset then it makes it pretty difficult