This War of Mine shifts the focus of war games from the shooters to the civilians caught in the crossfire.

By Laura Hudson

The appetite for games about war is immense. From Call of Duty to Battlefield, videogames set during violent conflicts—particularly shooting games—are some of the most popular and lucrative in the world. But the experience of war they offer tends to be notably narrow, focused almost exclusively on one perspective: how it feels to be a powerful man with a gun.

This War of Mine, a survival game created by Polish developer 11 Bit Studios, shifts that focus profoundly. Rather than offering the pseudo-heroic thrill of rampaging around a city wielding heavy weaponry, This War of Mine focuses on the people who usually end up as background characters or collateral damage in most war games: civilians trying to survive the chaos and violence around them.

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