Am I supposed to know how to play "This War of Mine"?

[tippy2k2]

Kind of a weird and niche question here so I'll give it a go to explain what I mean.

I picked up "This War of Mine: Little Ones" for the Xbox One because I've heard great things and I love how unique it sounds. However, there is zero direction. There's no tutorial, there's no instruction manual that explains the mechanics, there's no nothing.

I was considering Googling some of this junk but then I thought to myself "My God, you're a sexy bastard! Also, I wonder if I'm not supposed to know this stuff"

Similar to XCOM, I'm wondering if part of the fun of the game is NOT knowing anything about it, failing, and then trying again with your new knowledge. So for people who have played it...

Should I look up the mechanics and how this game actually works or like XCOM, am I going to have a better time blind and sucking it up when I inevitably make a bad choice out of ignorance?

 

[Dalisclock]

You need food, water and meds first thing. Don't take stupid risks. Get a weapon quickly and always set a watch. Try to rotate who gets to sleep. If someone is sick, try to get them medicine ASAP because they're only gonna get more sick, though letting them get more sleep will delay them getting worse.

Honestly, I still haven't been able to complete a game. It's hard for me to get very far before I get incredibly depressed and have to stop. I love what it's trying to do, but it does it so well that it's just difficult to play.

 

[sXeth]

Its up to you really. It can be a bit frustrating figuring out some things.

I'd guess if you play any other sort of indie survival things, just take a nod from your strategy that you enjoyed with those. Its seemingly ingrained into the genre to be a bit mechanically obtuse at this point, if not outright wiki in one hand game in the other situations.

 

[LetalisK]

Go in blind and make lots of mistakes, if rogue-likes are your thing. This War of Mine is one of those games that is built as a puzzle and as soon as you figure out the key it gets much less interesting as all the suspense is taken away. I made the mistake of researching the best way to do things and my experience hurt for it. Within no time on my first and only play through I was nearly self-sufficient, was easily fending off raiders, rarely had to deal with any hostiles while scavenging, and time became an inconvenience rather than an enemy.

This War of Mine isn't hard. It's obtuse.

 

[hermes]

Yes. As most rogue-like games out there, part of the fun is discovering the systems, the items and the possible events, and how to use them.

Making mistakes, fucking it up and having to start again is part of the game.

 

[sageoftruth]

You need food, water and meds first thing. Don't take stupid risks. Get a weapon quickly and always set a watch. Try to rotate who gets to sleep. If someone is sick, try to get them medicine ASAP because they're only gonna get more sick, though letting them get more sleep will delay them getting worse.

Honestly, I still haven't been able to complete a game. It's hard for me to get very far before I get incredibly depressed and have to stop. I love what it's trying to do, but it does it so well that it's just difficult to play.

Just curious, when you mentioned getting very depressed, did you mean you or your characters? Or both?

 

[Dalisclock]

You need food, water and meds first thing. Don't take stupid risks. Get a weapon quickly and always set a watch. Try to rotate who gets to sleep. If someone is sick, try to get them medicine ASAP because they're only gonna get more sick, though letting them get more sleep will delay them getting worse.

Honestly, I still haven't been able to complete a game. It's hard for me to get very far before I get incredibly depressed and have to stop. I love what it's trying to do, but it does it so well that it's just difficult to play.

Just curious, when you mentioned getting very depressed, did you mean you or your characters? Or both?

Apparently your characters get depressed if the others die or if they have nothing to relieve the stress, but in this case I meant that I got depressed.

I don't normally get bothered by games but this game got to me because of the bleakness of it and because of how close it feels to real life tragedies and warfare. I have the same problem with Valiant Hearts but have actually finished that several times despite not being able to finish it without blubbering like a baby.

 

[sageoftruth]

You need food, water and meds first thing. Don't take stupid risks. Get a weapon quickly and always set a watch. Try to rotate who gets to sleep. If someone is sick, try to get them medicine ASAP because they're only gonna get more sick, though letting them get more sleep will delay them getting worse.

Honestly, I still haven't been able to complete a game. It's hard for me to get very far before I get incredibly depressed and have to stop. I love what it's trying to do, but it does it so well that it's just difficult to play.

Just curious, when you mentioned getting very depressed, did you mean you or your characters? Or both?

Apparently your characters get depressed if the others die or if they have nothing to relieve the stress, but in this case I meant that I got depressed.

I don't normally get bothered by games but this game got to me because of the bleakness of it and because of how close it feels to real life tragedies and warfare. I have the same problem with Valiant Hearts but have actually finished that several times despite not being able to finish it without blubbering like a baby.

So true. It feels like going back in time gushing about this game right now, but I felt so terrible the time I robbed that old couple and the game wouldn't let me forget it. I'll have to give Valiant Hearts a try sometime.

 

[zombiejoe]

You should go into the game mostly blind, but in case you do need some direction for how things work. I love This War of Mine, and have played it enough to figure out most of it like the back of my hand and beat it with relative ease. It is a solid experience no matter how much you know, but going in blind like these survivors would be really helps you feel what the game is going for for your first run.

If you literally have NO idea what to do and wind up having a bad time, I'd be happy to give you some starting tips but for the most part, just experiment and see what happens.