With its teaser trailer, This War of Mine presents a world ensnared in combat, but focuses its lens on the civilians caught in the middle of the brutal conflict. "In war, not everyone is a soldier," the ominous video notes, featuring huddled civilians within a building as uniformed soldiers battle outside. In part inspired by the mature message found in award-winning indie game Papers, Please and an article that recapped "One Year of Hell" within a besieged Bosnia, Senior Writer Pawel Miechowski says, This War of Mine is a bleak game about the repercussions of war and attempting to survive the chaos.

In development at 11 Bit Studios, the team behind the Anomaly series, This War of Mine explicitly sets out of avoid the entertainment of firing a gun and scoring kills, Miechowski tells me. "This is a serious game. A mature game."