Thea: The Awakening - Review @ Spacesector

Winter is a time often filled with surprises and wonderful gifts. I am pleased to report that I’ve received a fantastic surprise of my own. Thea: The Awakening, from developer MuHa Games, is my biggest surprise in strategy gaming this year. Often, I find out about games years before their release, but this one flew below my radar for a long time. It is perhaps not only my discovery of the game that is a surprise, but also the fact that the game released at all. It survived not one, but two failed Kickstarter campaigns. If there’s one thing this game’s story teaches though, it’s that it is never too late to turn things around. This is true not just in the game itself, but in indie development as well.

Shortly before release, I provided my first impressions of the game. Not that much has changed since that time, but I’ll be providing more in-depth coverage and analysis here based on my additional time with the final release.

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Thea: The Awakening is an indie game that proves there is more than one way to build a strategy game. Its change in focus and design won’t make it a hit with all strategy fans, but for these very same reasons it offers a great experience for fans looking for something new or who also enjoy storytelling and RPGs. With tons of events to uncover, numerous gods to play, multiple endings, and lots of ways to approach running your village, there is certainly plenty of content to keep one busy for many hours.

Score: 8/10

The Good:

• Unique and immersive setting
• Event system creates a strong and interesting narrative
• Challenge system allows for combat that involves more than just brawn
• Loads of resources to gather and items to craft
• Multiple victory conditions and endings to uncover
• Rewards repeated play

The Bad:

• Less strategic elements and more RPG elements than some may prefer
• Luck can be very kind or very cruel
• Events, especially early ones, repeat a bit too often
• Rewards and encounters can feel uneven at times

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HiddenX said:

I like even the points that are listed under Bad

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Events, especially early ones, repeat a bit too often

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Aubrielle said:

This looks fun!

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