Thea: The Awakening - Two Previews

Thea: The Awakening impressions – an unusual mix of genres in a Slavic setting

Slavic mythology is rarely used theme. With the exception of The Witcher, we’d be hard-pressed to name a recently-made, successful game that was inspired by the old beliefs of this ethnic group. This is where Thea: The Awakening comes in.

The game offers quite an intriguing premise: it's a turn-based fantasy strategy that combines mechanisms typical for survival productions with solutions known from card games. The gameplay is fairly open-ended, with most elements random in nature (it’s quite obvious that the roguelike genre has been a huge inspiration). To make matters even more interesting, the story is deeply rooted in Slavic mythology with a sprinkling of post-apocalyptic themes. This specific combination is enough to make the title intriguing – and raise some doubts as well. There's no denying that mixtures like this often turn out so overdone that they become virtually unplayable.

The failed Kickstarter campaign didn't look too optimistic either; even though the developers aimed at collectijg a modest amount of GBP 10,000, they didn't even manage to acquire half of this sum. Refusing to give up, they got down to hard work instead, and the fruit of their labor comes in the form of an early access version on Steam Greenlight.

[...]

Click to expand...

Thea: The Awakening Preview

Back in September, eXplorminate did a preview article outlining all the upcoming 4X and strategy games for our next “fiscal” year. One that we mentioned as “quickly becoming one of our most anticipated indie titles” was Thea: The Awakening. Well, the developers at Muha Games have not disappointed.

Thea is something of a hybrid game. It’s best described as a mash-up of 4X, Roguelike, and Survival genres. That may sound like quite a claim, but in this case, it’s true. The developers at Muha Games have taken some of the quintessential elements from each genre and combined them into a surprisingly good mix. Thea has the eXploration, eXploitation, and eXtermination mechanics from 4X genres, it has the perma-death and ironman no-save elements from Roguelikes, and it is immersed in the ambiance and resource management mechanics that define the survival genre. I consider it a “4X-Lite” with Roguelike and Survival heritage.

Thea is currently in Early Access on Steam. I’ve gotten about 16 hours into the game at this point, and I’m still hardly scratching the surface. The unique Slavic folklore in which Thea is immersed in, is very well done. It is refreshing to play a fantasy game that’s not textbook Tolkien (even though I do enjoy Tolkienesque games greatly). Thea’s dark mood and unfamiliar mythos bring something unique to the table that I think many players will appreciate.


In Thea you portray a deity who has come back from oblivion to try to rebuild the world. Each time you play a game in Thea you earn XP, win or lose. This XP accumulates and your avatars level up and gain new abilities that improve your villagers. The first few times you try Thea, you’re going to lose. I promise. However, you’ll gain that XP and each subsequent play will get a little easier. Once you get the hang of it, Thea becomes an extraordinarily pleasurable game. It never really gets “easy” in my estimation. Play is always challenging and fun. Muha has done a great job balancing the game already and is making further progress each week.

[...]

If you’ve been hunting for a dark fantasy game, with lots of unique and interesting mechanics, Thea might be what you’re looking for. I would advise that you watch a few Let’s Play videos and check out their forums before making any purchase. You also might want to peruse Nate’s Q&A with the developers. They explained a lot of what went into making Thea. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is a mash-up of several genres and this conglomeration won’t appeal to everyone.


This is just a preview, so I can’t make any kind of recommendation. I will tell you this, though. I am very much enjoying myself. Frustrating as it is at times, I do feel like I’m always making progress, and even when I lose, I am having so much fun, I jump right back in and start a new game. If you do decide to take the plunge and get Thea now (on sale for $19.99 on Steam), I wish you good hunting and good luck. You’re gonna need it!

Click to expand...