First off, please know that I don’t sleeve cards in my games (and I have about 100 board games, most with some amounts of cards). I tried sleeving my Terraforming Mars cards but after playing just one game, took the cards OUT of the sleeves (and sold the custom sleeves for about half what I paid for them).

However … after playing This War of Mine half a dozen times it seemed obvious to me that the cards in THIS game were a whole new ballgame. There are 14 decks of cards (more if you use expansions and add-ons) and ALL the decks (other than one) are 20 cards or less… three decks have less than 10 cards. Many of these small decks of cards need to be shuffled over and over (seems like I am constantly shuffling the cards). And shuffling was not only tedious, but hard to do! [refer to this article=> How Many Cards Are There]

So… I tried the KMC Perfect Size card sleeves that are a tight fit sleeve. I have played one game with cards sleeved with these Perfect Size sleeves and they are great.  For someone who dislikes playing with sleeved cards to say this says something about those sleeves! [refer to the video at the end about tight fitting sleeves]

Once all the cards are in the nice tight sleeves, shuffling was ten times easier! PLUS, all the cards were now protected from repeatedly being shuffled. It was a win-win situation!

But there is one other advantage to these tight fitting “Perfect Size” sleeves. The sleeved cards will still fit into the game box insert! If you use regular sleeves for the cards they will NOT fit back into the box in the insert. The few millimetre differences might almost seem irrelevant, but I tried BOTH types of sleeves (“normal” sleeves and “tight” sleeves) and the difference really *IS* significant. Size does matter :)

The tight fitting sleeve from KMC measures 64×89 mm

A normal sleeve measures 66×91 mm (2 mm more in both length and width)

It is hard to actually show this to you, but let me try a few photos, comparing a card in a tight sleeve next to one in a normal sleeve. First … look closely at the photo and you will see how the normal sleeved card is a tad bit longer (look at the right side a bit below center):

Next, look how it is a tad bit narrower (look at the right side near the bottom):

But the BEST way to tell the difference is trying to set the sleeved card into the insert in the game box! In this 3 second video you can see the tight fitting sleeved card drops in instantly with no problem:

Next … this 11 second video shows that the normally sleeved card won’t just “drop into” the insert and even tapping it down doesn’t get it all the way in (please don’t try this at home):

So, it now was a win-win-win situation!

Here is a video that convinced me to try the KMC Perfect Size sleeves (ignore the aspect of double sleeving … I just wanted a nice tight fit sleeve – not double!):

Another tighter fit sleeve (Swan 509 (size: 64×89)) has been referenced in a BGG forum article.

This War of Mine definitely has a theme and immerses you into it! And this was acknowledged when it won the 2017 award from Dice Tower:

1. The Game was funded in 3 hours! Wow, just wow. Whole team behind the game is left without words, you guys are AMAZING! This really is important game, it carries strong message and having you help us with it is very uplifting! We have prepared many stretch goals for you as well! (though after those 3 hours we know, we need to get back to work ASAP and create more… just in case). (May 10, 2016) (=>full update 1)
   

Continue reading “Part 1: Brief History of The Game (from 1st Edition Kickstarter Updates 1-18)” →

19. Farmer’s Expansion plus: VOTE: the 13th Character (May 25, 2016) (=>full update 19):
    • Politician
    • Former Actress
    • Ex-Convict
    • Homeless Man/Woman
    • Banker
    • Computer Hacker
20. Five Language Editions Confirmed plus partnership with Galakta (=>full update 20 – May 25)
    
21. Resin vs Plastic Miniatures PLUS New Add-Ons (=>full update 21 – May 26)
    • Resin is the best quality for details but costs more
    • Awaken Realms was making resin miniatures in house
    • 18 Furniture Sets in resin
    • Kids and Dog in resin
    • Miniature of a Cat in resin
    • Painted Rubble Die – a favorite idea from Michał Oracz, TWOM: TBG creator – an entirely new idea in the world of dice! We needed a die that would introduce a HUGE diversity in chances, with some being as high as 30% and others as low as 3% for a given side. The solution is almost trivial. We came up with a totally ASYMMETRICAL die. It has small and large sides and no center of gravity, it also isn’t perfectly flat, it has bulges and looks like a piece of a rubble or debris with some twisted pipes and damaged home equipment parts sticking out of it, more than a die used for board games. Of course it still has geometry that causes each roll to have a unequivocal, clear result and the die will never stop with no apparent result visible. In the game’s mechanics this Rubble Die represents a decision to sacrifice some time while searching through a location. We risk more than usual but instead we can find something more. You roll the die. In most cases the roll will mean one of the more probable results but from time to time a very hard VERY HARD to get result will be rolled and with it we will trigger an extremely rare finding or an event. The description of the symbols on each of the die’s sides will be printed on the cards that will come with it. Let me just add that not all result of the rolls will be to our liking. The Rubble Die brings certain risks with it and VERY RARELY a highly unpleasant adventure
      
22. New Stretch Goal – Emira, the 13th Character backstory (=>full update 22 – May 27):
    

Continue reading “Part 2: Brief History of the Game (Updates 19-26)” →

27. Pledge Manager / Late Pledge (June 1, 2016) (=>full update 27)
    • Referenced this website: War Child (War Child works toward a world in which no child’s life is torn apart by war.)
    • The campaign is over, and the Pledge Manager should be opening sometime prior to July 15
    • Yes, you can then update your pledge and add add-ons
    • Yes, late pledges will be possible then
28. More than just a game (=>full update 28 – June 10)
    • One of the two main game designers (Jakub Wisniewski) revealed some of the inspiration behind the game. It is summed up in this article=> More Than Just A Game
29. Business Perspective (=>full update 29 – June 19)
    • Board Games in general operate on a very small margin
    • A change of just 1% in currency exchange rates can mean a huge loss to the company
    • Awaken Realms prepared for this by purchasing a special currency exchange rate option in one of the Polish banks as a kind of insurance against significant changes to currency exchange rates.
    • A Review=> Eurogamer
30. Full Language Versions Confirmed (=>full update 30 – July 1)
    • This is for all game play elements including Stretch Goals and Add-Ons
    • They are working to make sure that the Pledge Manager is:
      • Sustainable (with even 20,000 simultaneous users)
      • Easy to Fill (Kickstarter balances transfer over automatically)
      • Safe (secure payment system)
      • Currency friendly (pay in any of the main currencies)
31. Hidden Game Play Tricks and Pledge Manager News (=>full update 31 – July 18)
    • The game was held in stasis while the prototype was developed and sent out, but now work on it has resumed
    • Goals for the game: emotions, decisions, flow, story, replay-ability
    • Instead of varying stats for each character (ie, strength, bravery, agility, etc) we have characters addicted to certain things (cigarettes, coffee, alcohol). We have characters who are concerned with the companions in the house, others who are worried about injuries and others who just want to read a book for hours. The FATE card near the end of each day can touch on any of these “spirits” on three levels. Level A will occur frequently. Level B less frequently. Level C not much at all.
    • Building a Radio will let you peak at the next Event that will be coming up… or the top card in one of the other decks.
    • Night Raids does have some good cards, but they are one use only (removed from the game after use).
    • Pledge Manager will be managed by GameFound (This War of Mine on Gamefound)
32. Pledge Manager is Live (=>full update 32 – July 25)
    • Register to use it
    • Can add more to your pledge
    • Can Late Pledge
    • GameFound is available to other game creators to use as their Pledge Manager
33. Pledge Manager FAQ (=>full update 33 – July 25)
    • Solutions to various issues with using the Pledge Manager
34. How This War of Mine Miniatures are made (=>full update 34 – Aug 7)
    • Almost 100% of the miniatures are finalized
    • Short Video=> This War of Mine Miniatures
35. Ruleset Officially FInished (=>full update 35 – Aug 28)
    • Rules are done – just need to be proofread and graphically enhanced
    • Arrivals deck was combined with the Visitors deck
    • Map cards were removed but found their way into the Exploration deck
    • The flow of the game was greatly improved
      • Out of 20 phases and semi-phases of the game, after the solid overhaul we now have 11 (almost twice less!), and this was done without removing any of the game’s elements.
    • Pledge Manager will be open at least through September
36. On inspiration and slowly descending into the horrors of war (=>full update 36 – Sept 12)
    • Almost all gameplay material has been finalized
    • Molds for the miniatures are at the factory
    • Surviving in a war torn city is intense
    • Please never forget: war always happens on somebody’s doorstep.
    • Hopefully this game will reveal not only the terrible things but also the wonderful examples of bravery, love and compassion that always follow times like these, that light the beacon of hope.
37. Essen Spiel and Visual Upgrade (=>full update 37 – Oct 6)
    • On display in three places during Essen Spiel
    • Visual upgrade of the core game is done
      
    • Production of the miniatures is almost started
    • Most Stretch Goals and Add-Ons are finished with just wording being updated

Continue reading “Part 3: Brief History of the Game (Updates 27-46)” →

Awaken Realms shed light on how this game was designed to be more than just a game in their update #28:

The Scripts are the very core of the game, pushing it beyond being just an ordinary game experience. Each of the over 2,000 scripts can be seen as a vignette (something small, yet detailed and intense). Thus each script will “provide you with intense, short bursts of plot driven events that will cause your immersion to be deeper and deeper as the game progresses.” The scripts should “grab you not only by your heart but also by your throat.”

The source of inspiration for this game came from biographies of war survivors and from war zone documentaries (and not from novels or war movies). The game is not designed to make you feel good about blasting through some unrealistic threat. The game gives you morally ambiguous situations to challenge your choices. There is no obvious “good choice” because life itself is NOT black and white, but shades of gray (and red in war). Much of the inspiration for the game came from the conflict in the Balkans, but (unfortunately) history is full of such conflicts.

Here are some books the game developers and designers used and they encourage you to read some as well:

• Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood (Amazon)
• Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War (Amazon)
• Sarajevo Marlboro (Amazon)
• Like Eating a Stone: Surviving the Past in Bosnia (Amazon)
• A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising (Amazon)
• Good People in an Evil Time: Portraits of Complicity and Resistance in the Bosnian War (Amazon)
• Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 (Amazon)
• Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Wartime Sarajevo (Amazon) [and, yes, Zlata is a character in the game as well]