This War of Mine Will Turn Players Into Helpless Civilians

11 Bit Studios says This War of Mine will be “a dark survival” game centered around the trials of life in a war zone.

When it comes to war, video games have established a pretty firm standard on what the player’s role is. You’re the soldier fighting in the streets, the pilot in the sky backing them up or, in strategy titles, the commander guiding them as they charge into battle. If 11 Bit Studios has its way though, players will be experiencing a side of war seldom seen in the realm of gaming: that of the suffering civilians.

The Poland-based studio recently unveiled this vision in an announcement trailer for its new game This War of Mine. The trailer sadly doesn’t show any gameplay but it does manage to be fairly chilling, focusing in on a typical looking war sequence that slowly transitions into an apartment where a family is dealing with the death of a loved one caught in the fighting.

Speaking about the game, 11 Bit Studios described it as “a dark survival game” where “the focus is shifted away from military operations” and will instead be turned toward controlling “a group of civilians trying to stay alive in a besieged city.” According to lead designer Michal Drozdowski the game will be based in part on real life events. “This can happen in your city, in your country,” he said. “We decided to work around this idea and make something real, something that moves people and makes them stop think for a second. It’s about time that games, just like any other art form, start talking about important things.”

Obviously we haven’t seen any of the actual game yet, but just from the trailer and the description it’s looking like an exciting and original experience. What do you think? Could you get behind being a helpless civilian or would you rather keep war titles focused on the flash, bang and boom of conflict?

Source: 11 Bit Studios