You start with 2-4 civilians and possibly some equipment, and you have to proceed from there. You begin a game of This War of Mine in your base, which looks like a bombed-out apartment complex. Surprisingly, there aren’t any tooltips to explain the icons, but most of the images make them self-explanatory, and for the non-obvious ones you just have to figure them out as you play. There are also “operate” icons for using workbenches or stoves, “door” icons for opening doors, “lock” icons where you need to use a lock pick or a crowbar to open something, and more.

If you see a “pile” icon, that means there is debris that you need to dig through.

If you see a “hand” icon, that means there is something that you can use or loot. Fortunately, most of your activities are straightforward. You’re just dropped into the game without any information about what you’re supposed to be doing. This War of Mine doesn’t include any sort of manual or tutorial. No, simply scavenging for supplies and keeping your civilians functional is all you need to do - but that’s difficult enough that winning the game is no sure thing. This isn’t a game where you eventually build up your civilians into an elite fighting force so they can go all Red Dawn against the opposition. With the city in enemy control, most of the people have fled, stores have shut down, and the utilities have been turned off, making survival a dicey proposition. This War of Mine is a real-time strategy game where you control a group of civilians in a besieged city.

This war of mine game over