This War of Mine: A board game as terrifying as reality

Heidelbär Games has announced Days of Siege, the second expansion for Galakta's board game This War of Mine. This War of Mine is unique: The game starts without much reading of the rules and lets players immerse themselves directly in the action. 

In the Days of Siege expansion for This War of Mine: The Board Game, you are locked in an open conflict within the city. Gone are the days of mere occupation - rebels are infiltrating Pogoren in a last-ditch attempt to take the city.

The Days of Siege expansion includes a number of modules, such as War Orphans and new locations, that you can use to enrich your gaming experience. Additionally, it includes Lost Hope, an epic three-chapter war campaign. This is already the second expansion for the board game This War of Mine after This War of Mine: Tales from the Ruins. 

Second Expansion: Days of Siege

Given the red-hot topic, if there's one board game that can scare you, it's This War of Mine. Galakta's adaptation of the video game of the same name from Poland's 11 Bit Studios centers on the horrors of war. What's more: it not only depicts the topic, but makes it the center of playful action. Up to six players aged 18 and over fight for survival in the analogue survival simulation in a city that has fallen victim to the war. 

In 2014, 11 Bit Studios, through publisher Deep Silver, launched a video game that would be remembered for almost a decade - and is now as relevant as ever. You started unprepared, the only information was a short introduction based on a text that staged the main characters of the game. What followed was as surprising as it was emotional. Ultimately, they had only one goal: to survive until the war was over. 

The path is full of gameplay, but also full of decisions. These are not always positive, because the horrors of war always claim their victims. As terrifying as the underlying theme is, the player gets sucked into the action - This War of Mine is a prime example of presenting a subject to a player without wanting to lecture them. Rather, the video game sends a simple question to answer: what do you do when war breaks out?

Financially, This War of Mine was also a success: the production costs were recouped just two days after publication. Even without the mobile versions, 11bit had a turnover of up to 3,5 million euros with the title. In the meantime it should be significantly more. 

In 2017, publisher Galakta adapted the idea and turned the video game into a board game. The crowdfunding campaign generated an amount of over 10.000 euros from almost 730.000 supporters. Above all, it was the immersive story that was able to captivate players – whether solo or in large groups – just as the video game had done before. In terms of game mechanics, the title was not without flaws, today you would probably be happy to accept that in order to be able to play a board game that couldn't be closer to the horrible reality. 

Without raising the moral finger, the video game started in 2014. That too may have changed by now. This War of Mine is a playful memorial to the war in Ukraine. Because the question remains: what do you do when war breaks out?

After the Tales from the Ruins expansion, the board game is now expanding again with content in Days of Siege. The new expansion focuses on a gruesome question: will you risk your own life to save children's? More and more children are left behind alone, whose parents died of hunger or violence, so the premise. 

An anti-war computer game has long since become an anti-war board game. From a cultural point of view, the title thus has a real task. 

Last updated on 8.03.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API