OH, I love this game!

This game has all that I have been looking for in a game recently: Crafting is rather deep, important and meaningful, the quests are well-written, exciting and fun, exploration is cool, the resource management is complex and keeps you interested, the survival elements are quite entertaining while not being too hard, AND it is turn-based (and it is turn-based in a very addictive and exciting way)!

It even has a great atmosphere with awesome shifts between day and night cycles and a good story in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. The card game first looked a little weird, but after learning it, I must say that it actually works incredibly well for fighting tactical battles that are both engaging, quite tactical and exciting, but still rather quick and not too hard to understand. I have never chosen the auto-play option for the fighting, since this fight mechanic keeps me interested and entertained. And, since it is each party member who are represented by a card, and the card abilities and stats change as your people level up and get better gear, it actually adds to the immersion and feels very much alive and real. You will learn to love each and every one of your survivors, and their unique abilities, and you will be overwhelmed by sorrow if they die (and they will on occasion die - from wounds, sickness or curses).

Thea: The Awakening is sometimes said to be a 4X game, but technically it is 3X - as it actually lacks the eXpand part. This lack of eXpand is actually really cool and one of the things I love the most about this game! It really makes the gameplay very different from other games in this genre, since having only one single city forces you to travel far off with expeditions that need to be well equipped, carry enough food and wood (for keeping camp-fires burning), and needing to be well-balanced with different traits and abilities to perform well and survive. This adds to immersion and survival themes, and it also avoids the micromanagement overload that you get in mid- to late-game in other games such as Civilization V, since you only have this one city to attend to thoughout the game.

The other X'es are well done: you eXterminate a lot of different kinds of monsters, and having no other factions is also a welcome difference and change from other games, since it makes this game stand out as one of a kind. The eXploration is exciting, with lots of different resources, locations, monster nests and quest givers to be found, and you must always attend to your expeditions food and firewood levels, their equipment, abilities and health to assure they will safely return home from one more travel. The eXploit part is also really well done, as you must travel to places where the resources needed to craft different objects can be found, set up a camp and harvest resources, while defending the attacks of marrouding monsters. So all of the 3 X'es are well done.

All of the above are pro's for this game, but there are a few con's, too. The first being that since you only get one city, starting resources in that city is important, and while it seems you always get firewood and one food source, I have sometimes gotten 1 or 2 bonus resources inside the city radius that makes early game easier - and this encourages re-spawning the world at least 5-8 times when starting a new game, to get a decent start location (but, I must admit I have used even more time doing this in both Civilization V and Endless Legend before). The second problem is that at present you cannot make any sort of seafaring vessel, and I miss being able to travel the rivers and lakes/oceans by boat. The third problem is that they made unlocking new deities to play with ridiculously slow, but I guess this will be tweaked prior to release. The fourth problem is that I miss some more buildings, and even some more equipment and stuff to research and craft (there is a decent amount of both buildings and craftable stuff, but I still want more!). But, I am guessing that some of these problems will be addressed by the dev team prior to release, as the dev team seems very professional and dedicated, they update the game regularly, and from what I have seen so far they will manage to improve this great game even more before it is finished.

Conclusion: 9 out of 10. I am loving it!


Olafr blogs about modding and gaming: http://gamersparadiseolafr.tumblr.com/



Olafr reviews similar games:
- Sid Meiers Civilization IV: Colonization (with RaR mod).
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/16810
- Civilization V.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/8930
- Endless Legend.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/289130
- This War of Mine.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/282070
- Darkest Dungeon.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/262060
- Dead in Bermuda.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/384310




Follow Olafr the Viking Steam Curator for reviews of STRATEGY - RPG - SURVIVAL games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/25341025-Olafr-the-Viking/


Learn more about the Olafr Rating System (1 to 10):
http://gamersparadiseolafr.tumblr.com/post/152254235900/olafr-the-viking-rating-system-1-to-10-olafr
Compare this game’s rating to other games in the Olafr Rating History: http://gamersparadiseolafr.tumblr.com/post/152254318505/olafr-the-viking-rating-history-olafr-the

OH, I love this game! This game has all that I have been looking for in a game recently: Crafting is rather deep, important and meaningful, the quests are well-written, exciting and fun, exploration is cool, the resource management is complex and keeps you interested, the survival elements are quite entertaining while not being too hard, AND it is turn-based (and it is turn-based in a very addictive and exciting way)! It even has a great atmosphere with awesome shifts between day and night cycles and a good story in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. The card game first looked a little weird, but after learning it, I must say that it actually works incredibly well for fighting tactical battles that are both engaging, quite tactical and exciting, but still rather quick and not too hard to understand. I have never chosen the auto-play option for the fighting, since this fight mechanic keeps me interested and entertained. And, since it is each party member who are represented by a card, and the card abilities and stats change as your people level up and get better gear, it actually adds to the immersion and feels very much alive and real. You will learn to love each and every one of your survivors, and their unique abilities, and you will be overwhelmed by sorrow if they die (and they will on occasion die - from wounds, sickness or curses). Thea: The Awakening is sometimes said to be a 4X game, but technically it is 3X - as it actually lacks the eXpand part. This lack of eXpand is actually really cool and one of the things I love the most about this game! It really makes the gameplay very different from other games in this genre, since having only one single city forces you to travel far off with expeditions that need to be well equipped, carry enough food and wood (for keeping camp-fires burning), and needing to be well-balanced with different traits and abilities to perform well and survive. This adds to immersion and survival themes, and it also avoids the micromanagement overload that you get in mid- to late-game in other games such as Civilization V, since you only have this one city to attend to thoughout the game. The other X'es are well done: you eXterminate a lot of different kinds of monsters, and having no other factions is also a welcome difference and change from other games, since it makes this game stand out as one of a kind. The eXploration is exciting, with lots of different resources, locations, monster nests and quest givers to be found, and you must always attend to your expeditions food and firewood levels, their equipment, abilities and health to assure they will safely return home from one more travel. The eXploit part is also really well done, as you must travel to places where the resources needed to craft different objects can be found, set up a camp and harvest resources, while defending the attacks of marrouding monsters. So all of the 3 X'es are well done. All of the above are pro's for this game, but there are a few con's, too. The first being that since you only get one city, starting resources in that city is important, and while it seems you always get firewood and one food source, I have sometimes gotten 1 or 2 bonus resources inside the city radius that makes early game easier - and this encourages re-spawning the world at least 5-8 times when starting a new game, to get a decent start location (but, I must admit I have used even more time doing this in both Civilization V and Endless Legend before). The second problem is that at present you cannot make any sort of seafaring vessel, and I miss being able to travel the rivers and lakes/oceans by boat. The third problem is that they made unlocking new deities to play with ridiculously slow, but I guess this will be tweaked prior to release. The fourth problem is that I miss some more buildings, and even some more equipment and stuff to research and craft (there is a decent amount of both buildings and craftable stuff, but I still want more!). But, I am guessing that some of these problems will be addressed by the dev team prior to release, as the dev team seems very professional and dedicated, they update the game regularly, and from what I have seen so far they will manage to improve this great game even more before it is finished. Conclusion: 9 out of 10. I am loving it! Olafr blogs about modding and gaming: http://gamersparadiseolafr.tumblr.com/ Olafr reviews similar games: - Sid Meiers Civilization IV: Colonization (with RaR mod). http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/16810 - Civilization V. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/8930 - Endless Legend. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/289130 - This War of Mine. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/282070 - Darkest Dungeon. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/262060 - Dead in Bermuda. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031254429/recommended/384310 Follow Olafr the Viking Steam Curator for reviews of STRATEGY - RPG - SURVIVAL games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/25341025-Olafr-the-Viking/ Learn more about the Olafr Rating System (1 to 10): http://gamersparadiseolafr.tumblr.com/post/152254235900/olafr-the-viking-rating-system-1-to-10-olafr Compare this game’s rating to other games in the Olafr Rating History: http://gamersparadiseolafr.tumblr.com/post/152254318505/olafr-the-viking-rating-history-olafr-the