Thea: The Awakening

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 146 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 119 out of 146
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 146
  3. Negative: 11 out of 146

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  1. hileger
    Nov 23, 2022
    4
    дерьмо примитивное ..............................................................................................
  2. yes_commander
    May 14, 2020
    4
    I've spent something in the neighborhood of 40-60 hours with this one. I feel I gave it a very fair shake. I don't have a problem with the graphics, the writing, the systems -- all of it is fine. Except for the combat. I think the decision to allow a coin toss to decide which direction a unit attacks is utterly horrible. It undermines player decision-making. Many games use randomness toI've spent something in the neighborhood of 40-60 hours with this one. I feel I gave it a very fair shake. I don't have a problem with the graphics, the writing, the systems -- all of it is fine. Except for the combat. I think the decision to allow a coin toss to decide which direction a unit attacks is utterly horrible. It undermines player decision-making. Many games use randomness to much better effect. Mostly decent 4x game, but I feel the attempt to innovate on combat mechanics is a huge failure.… Expand
  3. Broyax
    Feb 10, 2020
    0
    Une sorte de Civilization du pauvre avec des graphismes particulièrement minables et un environnement de villageois tout aussi minables... En vérité, tout est désespérément minable dans cette espèce de jeu indé qui voudrait se prendre pour un boeuf mais qui reste une misérable limace...

    Les graphismes donc en 256 couleurs, simplets et très misérables, ce qui n'étonne pas plus que ça    Une sorte de Civilization du pauvre avec des graphismes particulièrement minables et un environnement de villageois tout aussi minables... En vérité, tout est désespérément minable dans cette espèce de jeu indé qui voudrait se prendre pour un boeuf mais qui reste une misérable limace...

    Les graphismes donc en 256 couleurs, simplets et très misérables, ce qui n'étonne pas plus que ça puisque c'est réalisé avec le moteur Trinity, le moteur des jeux de misérables surtout utilisé par les développeurs indés à la petite semaine et pour cause : c'est de la daube pas chère pour les bricolos du dimanche !

    Le pseudo-jeu est tout en anglais en tout cas et d'un abord très peu engageant... après un "tutorial" qui fait le service minimum, il faut se démerder avec un merdier inexpugnable fait de menus et sous-menus disposés dans tous les sens. Gérer ce truc à la con est par conséquent une perte de temps ; on demandera à la poubelle si elle veut s'en occuper.    … Expand
  4. RagingPoet
    Aug 11, 2018
    8
    Thea: the Awakening is a very good TBS/RPG, but with limited replay value unlike best titles in this genre. Having an actual story and quests makes the game exceptionally entertaining for the first 1-2 playthroughs, but after that it becomes less and less interesting. And this is while game mechanics with unlocking and leveling up deities encourages multiple playthroughs.

    The game has a    Thea: the Awakening is a very good TBS/RPG, but with limited replay value unlike best titles in this genre. Having an actual story and quests makes the game exceptionally entertaining for the first 1-2 playthroughs, but after that it becomes less and less interesting. And this is while game mechanics with unlocking and leveling up deities encourages multiple playthroughs.

    The game has a lot of interesting mechanics and good text quests with impactful choices, finishing it for the first time was a blast.    … Expand
  5. nickderpderp
    Aug 1, 2018
    8
    Surprisingly good. I guess some part of the side stories aren't for everyone, gameplay may be a repetitive and soundtrack is not the best of all, but overall it's a great, unique experience.
  6. mythal01
    Jul 9, 2017
    10
    This is a GREAT game - from an indie gamedev that published themselves and did basically everything the right way. I'll fully support this developer from now on.
    The game itself is a mix of Civilization-like city building, HoMM-like RPG adventuring, 4x (explore, exterminate, expand, exploit), and has a bit of its own flavor. A true genre-blending game that feels great to play.
    The    This is a GREAT game - from an indie gamedev that published themselves and did basically everything the right way. I'll fully support this developer from now on.
    The game itself is a mix of Civilization-like city building, HoMM-like RPG adventuring, 4x (explore, exterminate, expand, exploit), and has a bit of its own flavor. A true genre-blending game that feels great to play.

    The replayability is also very well done, unlocking different gods, and leveling up each god to make a fairly different playstyle each time, with of course a randomly generated map you can tweak in size and difficulty.

    The quests flood in constantly keeping you entertained with great storyline and allot of quasi-humor plugs (monty python, king arthur, etc).

    The crafting system is awesome as well - making it a mix of research, gathering, and character management akin to any good RPG.

    The music is fantastic, really putting you in the atmosphere. The lore taken from slavic history is also quite a unique touch and very well done even if you dont know anything about it.

    The combat system at first seems complicated and frustrating - but give it 10 or so combats, and watch a youtube tutorial video or two and you will master it in no time. Enough complexity to really wreak havoc with good strategy, and keep you entertained - while simple enough that ongoing combats dont seem like a chore/bore, as in many games of this type. (More complex than a HoMM type game for example, where combat gets boring very quickly).

    Graphics are also good - plenty good enough for a game of this genre, though not the best eyecandy out there (but I dont think this detracts anything at all from the game, graphics are perfect fit for the type of game it is).

    What else is there to say? This game is a gem. Grab it now!
    I rarely ever give a game 10/10 score. In 25 years of gaming probably only 20-30 games would even be seriously considered for 9 or 10 out of 10.
    While I have only played this game for ~50 hours in about 4 playthroughs (first 2 were pretty disasterous as always) - I'm not playing on custom difficulty of 300%+ difficulty bonus and enjoying it immensely. I can easily see myself sinking 1000 hours into this game and still coming back for more.
    I havent even tried multiplayer yet either! A whole new type of gameplay awaiting me yet.    … Expand
  7. kondenado
    May 10, 2017
    10
    A very good indie game. As some reviewer mention, s an older gamer I see so many games already and so many mechanism past my screen that it's getting more and more difficult to be impressed by a new game. Heroes of Might and Magic III was one of the first games I played and really liked. It was a turn based game with a big map where you have to search for monsters and treasures on aA very good indie game. As some reviewer mention, s an older gamer I see so many games already and so many mechanism past my screen that it's getting more and more difficult to be impressed by a new game. Heroes of Might and Magic III was one of the first games I played and really liked. It was a turn based game with a big map where you have to search for monsters and treasures on a fantasy setting. Since that moment I played that game it's my favorite genre.… Expand
  8. Allwanz0r
    Mar 21, 2017
    9
    1. ''Ambushed by bandits''
    2. ''Starts flirting with the bandits''
    3. ''The female bandit leader falls for my dwarven warrior'' 4. ''They share a passionate moment in the forest'' 5. ''As soon as she is about to leave with her group, my dwarf runs up to her and starts to express his love'' 6. The other bandits give their shared blessing to the captain and she comes back with my group    1. ''Ambushed by bandits''
    2. ''Starts flirting with the bandits''
    3. ''The female bandit leader falls for my dwarven warrior''
    4. ''They share a passionate moment in the forest''
    5. ''As soon as she is about to leave with her group, my dwarf runs up to her and starts to express his love''
    6. The other bandits give their shared blessing to the captain and she comes back with my group to our village.

    10/10 Best love story ever and faith in the world of Thea restored    … Expand
  9. crayno66
    Mar 1, 2017
    9
    It's been a long time since I have been so pleasantly surprised by a game.
    It's original and well narrated and although I have just finished it for the first time it seems that there's still much more to uncover.

    Just one more turn..........
  10. IJL711
    Nov 27, 2016
    8
    Do you like hex board games? Crafting mechanics? Random events? Do you like saying "Just one more turn" 50 times until realizing the shame spiral you've fallen into? Then this might be the game for you. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it at first but I found myself completing turn after turn and falling into it's spell until, lo and behold, it was the next day!
    It's a fun game all around    Do you like hex board games? Crafting mechanics? Random events? Do you like saying "Just one more turn" 50 times until realizing the shame spiral you've fallen into? Then this might be the game for you. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it at first but I found myself completing turn after turn and falling into it's spell until, lo and behold, it was the next day!
    It's a fun game all around with a lot of mechanics going on; it's not so many that you can't keep things in order but not so few that they all get tedious too quickly. All at the same time you're crafting weapons, gather materials, exploring the world, and running into new events. Each game has it's own deity with buffs that level up based on how you're playing through the game which, subsequently, give you more buffs in new games.
    The events editor really helps with keeping the game interesting. If you don't feel like making your own, you can download events from online sources. While it is fun to make your own, it is not entirely straightforward; it involves a lot of trial and error and there are still many aspects of the editor that just aren't well explained and you may never use. That is, unless of course you're good with coding and logic.
    One gripe is that the random events begin to get repetitive after a while. Seriously, I got ambushed by dwarven bandits so many times that I eventually just started killing them instead of sparing. It said I had completed 20% of the events but I kept getting the same ones over and over again after I'd completed most of a game.
    Also, the voice-over for some of the text probably could have used a woman's touch. Seriously, the guy sounded awfully weird when reading some of the female voice...
    Either way, all around fun game and I hope new things get added in the future. I've spent over 100 hours in this game and I intend to spend a lot more.    … Expand
  11. cottandy
    Nov 8, 2016
    9
    This game is for the ones, who don't like sleeping at night. If you like it, you will spend many hours exploring a postapocalyptic world, based on slavic folklore.

    It's bot only a turn-based strategy, it's a fine mix of different genres. For example, these are micro-management, crafting, random events decision making and a little bit of other elements. And finally It has it's own    This game is for the ones, who don't like sleeping at night. If you like it, you will spend many hours exploring a postapocalyptic world, based on slavic folklore.

    It's bot only a turn-based strategy, it's a fine mix of different genres. For example, these are micro-management, crafting, random events decision making and a little bit of other elements.

    And finally It has it's own original good storytelling, fine art and differs a little from every game, you've ever played before.

    While saving the world for the first time, you may find this game being beauty. And this process may continue for a very long time, which is good. But right after finishing the first story, the game loses its replayability, because you will have to do the exact same things over and over again in a new one.    … Expand
  12. ferrata
    Aug 31, 2016
    10
    Yeah, I don't get it. I guess in order to be a professional critic you have to take all kinds of nonsense into account when rating a game. My only criteria for rating a game is how much enjoyment I get out of it.

    I found Thea: The Awakening on Steam while looking for a new game to scratch my turn-based itch. From the description, to the screenshots, to the reviews, it looked like a    Yeah, I don't get it. I guess in order to be a professional critic you have to take all kinds of nonsense into account when rating a game. My only criteria for rating a game is how much enjoyment I get out of it.

    I found Thea: The Awakening on Steam while looking for a new game to scratch my turn-based itch. From the description, to the screenshots, to the reviews, it looked like a hidden gem. I picked it up and installed it straight away.

    I was so surprised. The best way for me to describe Thea: The Awakening is it's much of the game that Elemental (by Stardock) wishes it would have been. You, a fallen God in a fallen world, must guide your few remaining followers back from the brink of extinction. You do this by managing your settlement (domestic resource/people management with lots of options) and organizing expeditions.

    Expeditions can go out into the world to hunt, gather, etc. They can also adventure - visiting sites and monster lairs and following up on rumors. All expeditions (like your settlement) are bound to the resource system, i.e. your parties are dependent on fuel and food.

    "Combat" in the game is perhaps more accurately called "Conflict Resolution", as all manner of tests are resolved using the same base mechanics, those in the form of a card game. There are combat tests, social tests, sneakiness tests... all manner of things that some of your followers will be better at than others. This card game, at first, is a bit overwhelming and difficult to understand. But if you just bite the bullet and play it through a few times (damn the torpedoes!), not only will you quickly get the hang of it, but it becomes quite fun! The cards themselves are very well drawn sketch-art, and provide nice ambience to the whole game setting. And while some might gig the game for not having a "tactical combat system", the card game serves that purpose well, and allows for non-combat resolution all in one go. Brilliant. I would rather have a good card game than crappily done top-down tactical battles anyways.

    As for the story elements, thus far they are quite refreshing and imaginative. I'll just leave it at that.

    Amazing how easy it is to become attached to some sketch drawings. Last night, two of my followers died after a bad ambush. I was quite disappointed, and I'm really looking forward to going back tonight to see what comes of my people.

    I'd like to add that my Steam purchase included free DLC. The devs have a voluntary DLC contribution that can be made... something that I look forward to contributing to. I haven't scratched the surface of this game and find myself already clamoring for future content.    … Expand
  13. night4
    Jul 7, 2016
    4
    Unoriginal ripoff of Civilizations with cumbersome complexity. I could deal with the complexity if the tutorial was halfway decent, but it's terrible.

    I've played free games on my phone that are more enjoyable.
  14. vonMistont
    Jun 6, 2016
    10
    One of the most innovative games. Think about fantasy postapocalyptic rpg-strategy-4x-survival mixture with tactical card based combat, rich crafting system. Very challenging even for hardcore gamers. Besides its innovative features this game also has a soul, engaging stroy, beautiful music, nice graphics. I'm simply bewitched. Well worth full price and I'm glad i paid it.
  15. GovernerX
    May 6, 2016
    10
    Thea is a very good game. Its 4X fantasy game set in Slavic mythology. You play the role of a Slavic god guiding a few of the remaining humans in an attempt to restore your power. Researching opens the ability to farm resources which leads to the crafting of better items and weapons. Your town grows randomly, either by children growing into adults, visitors wanting to join yourThea is a very good game. Its 4X fantasy game set in Slavic mythology. You play the role of a Slavic god guiding a few of the remaining humans in an attempt to restore your power. Researching opens the ability to farm resources which leads to the crafting of better items and weapons. Your town grows randomly, either by children growing into adults, visitors wanting to join your village, or sometimes, just because you rescued someone during an event. Not just humans either, you can get goblin, dwarves, even ghosts and demons! You expand by sending your people out on expeditions that can encounter events, complete quests, or simply gather resources for your next best weapon. My current game I have 5 expeditions now with a dozen peeps in each, all exploring and conquering different areas of the map. The exterminate part is a card game: its a brilliant, original idea. In fact, there are many different types of card games, not just combat, but also magic, hunting, sneaking, diplomacy to name some - and you can auto-resolve. There are many quests that you can follow, or choose to ignore if you want. The events add a role playing aspect to the game - and they are narrated. There is a nice event editor that MUHA provided graciously for free. The devs are very active in responding to emails and fixing bugs. One bug I reported, they fixed and I had the patch within an hour on a Saturday. They are also very willing to discuss enhancements to make their game better. I have spent 162 hours in game and counting. Its not getting old. And a really cool part is it doesnt matter if you win or loose your current game: when the game completes, it adds all the experience to a running total, which increases your ability as a Slavic god. I've played several games now and Veles (the god I have played in the previous game) is up to level 3. There are several other gods to choose from, each with their own bonuses, and you can swap between them as much as you want. Its a really cool, inventive approach to a game. Very original. I'd love to see a similar space 4x game.… Expand
  16. Greywolf2001ca
    Apr 23, 2016
    10
    This game is great for many reasons.

    First, you get to build a hamlet and try to survive. Now depending on the difficulty level you have chosen at the start of the game, it can be easy to nearly impossible to do. So you can adapt the game to your expertise level with this game. Second, you play a bunch of survivors that serve a certain god that you represent in the end. You choose the    This game is great for many reasons.

    First, you get to build a hamlet and try to survive. Now depending on the difficulty level you have chosen at the start of the game, it can be easy to nearly impossible to do. So you can adapt the game to your expertise level with this game.
    Second, you play a bunch of survivors that serve a certain god that you represent in the end. You choose the deity at game start.
    Third, you get to craft a bunch of items the way you like. Nothing s premade. You want a sword that gives dexterity, you can. You want a weapon to give you magic, you can make one.
    Fourth, there are plenty of stories in the game as you progress. The adventuring is just nice.
    Fifth, combat and challenges are simple to understand but not always easy to win. Again, it dependso n the difficulty level you have chosen.
    Sixth, the replayability is very high as each game will be mostly different.
    Finaly, with the recent update they did, it brought the game to an all new level. Adding dangerous giants to the game is like ouch! It also adds an additionnal ending or two, making it even more replayable. Also, they improved the variety of the graphics, before this update, the graphics were quite repetitive, now they have an image for pretty much any kind of item you can craft, which is nice.

    I hope that these guys continue to build this game upward, they are doing an awesome job.    … Expand
  17. doodydota
    Mar 4, 2016
    10
    A small, but fresh and addicting strategy game with rpg elements. For this price it's a 10/10 experience, provided you are not afraid to learn new game mechanics.
  18. gettingthere
    Feb 17, 2016
    9
    A worthwhile game in a self-made genre that is very ambitious. Over 100 hrs played now.

    Pros: - unusual game - a campaign style map with card battles within that and gods above that who level up after each game. - Levelling up the gods makes a big difference and helps replayability. - I like the card battles - even when you're going to lose, you want to work out which enemies you    A worthwhile game in a self-made genre that is very ambitious. Over 100 hrs played now.

    Pros:
    - unusual game - a campaign style map with card battles within that and gods above that who level up after each game.
    - Levelling up the gods makes a big difference and helps replayability.
    - I like the card battles - even when you're going to lose, you want to work out which enemies you can take out so that next battle you can win it because generally you will recover whereas the enemy doesn't.
    - very good support team - quick and active. Very very good.
    - bugfree (rare for a first game)
    - free DLC promised. (sorry, WWHHHHHAAAAAATTTT?!) I don't anyone who does that.
    - potential to become a series like Champ Manager, Europa Universalis, Civ, Total War.

    Cons:
    - campaign map can be samey - you follow a similar route to always - if they created a little more diversity e.g. through giving access to a random good resource near your base it might alter your tactics more each game. This game would permit diversity in a way that a civilisation campaign couldn't and I think that would really help benefit that.
    - getting all 3 levels of the game to work really well was very ambitious - the gods levellling up is great. The campaign map so so and the card battles good - not merely ok, but not great either.

    All in all, I think it's well worth its value for $20 and would recommend it.    … Expand
  19. Kluge
    Feb 15, 2016
    7
    Thea's a good game - one of the best releases in the past few months. It's certainly similar to HOMM, but I think it reminds me even more of Eador. It's just a notch behind being so similar it's a clone. -So I'm just going to compare the two.

    First off, the story in Thea branching, short-but-fleshed-out, inventive, and boring. It strives for the same sense of absurdity and seriousness    Thea's a good game - one of the best releases in the past few months. It's certainly similar to HOMM, but I think it reminds me even more of Eador. It's just a notch behind being so similar it's a clone. -So I'm just going to compare the two.

    First off, the story in Thea branching, short-but-fleshed-out, inventive, and boring. It strives for the same sense of absurdity and seriousness in choices as Eador, and many of the stories are actually interesting, but I never really felt invested, and maybe this is more the mechanics of being able to pop out new units so fast, I actually would get annoyed whenever I saw I had new people to micromanage. This is very different from Eador where you usually only had 2-3 heroes (or even just one for most of a game), and rarely ever 4. Thea lets you bundle your people up into expeditions, but I'm not sure I see the benefit of having 30 semi-customizable units vs 3 very customizable units you've taken time to tailor finely - it certainly makes no contribution to my emotional investment.

    The writing in Thea has some very dramatic attention-grabbers in the little stories it tells. Sometimes, they'd actually shock me -- you know, I just didn't expect my normal-seeming folk to be nailing cats on their walls and sacrificing virgins to a roving band of rapists - it just really caught me off-guard. -So good for them on that, because it's an unusual accomplishment. I'd just be minding my own business hitting the return key every few seconds, watching my villagers collect nuts, and they suddenly decide it's time to take all the kids and put them in a gladiator-style death-match... what? Sure, okay! I hope the sequel will let me bet on who wins...

    The game is at the very least an excellent demo of their Honey Hex engine, but now that I've played Thea, I'm not sure I want to play many more games on the same engine without heavy modifications (it's a very well-made engine having investigated it, that said - but I don't use Unity).

    Back on-track... the combat card game is bad. I like card games, so I figured this would be right up my ally... but it just takes too much time for too low of stakes, and I don't seem to do too much better than auto-resolve, while opportunity rarely presents itself to lose via auto-resolve unless I'm so outmatched I'm screwed either way, so I don't feel any incentive to spend my time in it. -But I shouldn't need an incentive to play a game, right? I could auto-resolve in Eador, but I enjoyed being able to micro-manage there so I could do what I built up my army for, and auto-resolve was typically an awful choice.

    Content-wise, it's just lacking, and mod support certainly doesn't appear to be in the works to pick up the slack. There's a great base, and you see glimmers of an amazing, timeless game similar to Eador, but there's just not enough content in it. You play it two or three times and the experience is very similar but you have the opportunity to choose a slightly different ending. It feels complete, but just too small, like it's just a preview of things to come; maybe the devs didn't have the money to spend more time designing and implementing content, or maybe they didn't actually think the game was as good as it is and wanted to move on to something else to hedge their bets (I don't get this feeling, honestly - I think it was just a lack of time/money, which is hopefully resolved).

    There's a lot to build on here, and another game in this engine by the company is absolutely justified. -So I'd advise buying this as a down-payment for Thea: The Re-awakening, giving it a few playthroughs and then playing Eador if you haven't already (and I can't imagine why you wouldn't have already...).    … Expand
  20. MoreBokeh
    Jan 24, 2016
    7
    This is a solid indie game with a great theme. The rough edges with being an indie are much more noticeable here with bugs, voice acting, and UI issues, but the game systems stand out and are strong. Unfortunately, the storyline and different gods don't vary too much to warrant more than one replay. But if you are a fan of turn based strategies, this is worth at least one to two games.This is a solid indie game with a great theme. The rough edges with being an indie are much more noticeable here with bugs, voice acting, and UI issues, but the game systems stand out and are strong. Unfortunately, the storyline and different gods don't vary too much to warrant more than one replay. But if you are a fan of turn based strategies, this is worth at least one to two games. Better than Renowned Explorers: International Society but not as good as Invisible, Inc. for 2015 releases. Strong resemblance to Armello.… Expand
  21. marc5477
    Jan 15, 2016
    6
    Yet another overrated indie game that should be closer to a 6 out of 10. It has potential, but as it stands now, it is just a lite city builder with card game to replace tactical or real time combat. It does not have anywhere near the depth of other games in its genre like Fallen Enchantress, Kings Bounty, or even HoMM all of which, rate lower than this game which is clearly an aberrationYet another overrated indie game that should be closer to a 6 out of 10. It has potential, but as it stands now, it is just a lite city builder with card game to replace tactical or real time combat. It does not have anywhere near the depth of other games in its genre like Fallen Enchantress, Kings Bounty, or even HoMM all of which, rate lower than this game which is clearly an aberration due to how few have played this game.

    The good news is that this has potential to be good. The city building is not bad, but there are very few things to construct. The few buildings however can be improved with better materials so that adds some variation but its still pretty dull.

    Research is divided into 3 "trees" (note that most new players will only notice 1 tree until they look at the wiki online) and they are materials (allows you to gather new stuff), crafting (weapons, armors etc), and structures (things you can build in your city). The problem is that the trees feel lazy... there are too many variations of the same material or weapon and if you take out the variations, you realize that there really isnt much going on there. The game boasts "4400" craftable items, what they dont tell you is that 95% of the items are just variations of a base item using different materials... this, in my opinion, is dishonest.

    The card combat game is iffy and not nearly as much fun as tactical or real time combat in other games. The card game itself is not as bad as say... Pizaak, but it is no where near as deep as other card games like Magic or Culdcept. For the most part, there are only about a dozen things you can do and the game strategy boils down to combat order and oh... its random who goes 1st in each battle (so it seems, unless you get the drop on them via dialogs). The idea is you want to line up attacks and defense around enemy deployment but its not nearly as exciting as it sounds especially since you know what cards the enemy has before hand and there are so few strategies to use most of which deal with combat positioning.

    The biggest problem I have with the game is the intrusiveness of the RNG. Almost everything in this game is random. Quest generation, enemy spawns, rewards, combat (some of it), and map locations. I have had many encounters in this game that were ridiculous beyond belief for the level I was at and unfortunately there really is no way of knowing what to expect unless you just try it. This leads to a lot of metagaming and reloading which breaks the fun and immersion of the game. Remember this is not tactical game nor a traditional RPG so it has to rely on story and flow, it does not do that very well due to the randomness factor. I also hate how loot is random. In one game, i played almost 8 hours before seeing a weapon drop, but I had almost 20 shields. Again... very random and sometimes it really drags down the game.

    The graphics in this game are pretty atrocious and look like something from the late 90s. But the saving grace is that the game released at $20 so I wont knock the game for bad graphics.

    I think this game can be better. It needs work. It should definitely not be rated higher than similar games in its genre, but it is a slightly above average game overall (5 being average for user scores).    … Expand
  22. masc
    Jan 13, 2016
    8
    So far it is a beautiful and great game! It is complex and a fantastic mix of RPG and Survival. I love this game beside it's shortcomings I'll talk more about next. I refrain from repeating all the good that can be said about this game and has already been said hundredths of times here in the review section by others. If you want to know more about why exactly this game is so great pleaseSo far it is a beautiful and great game! It is complex and a fantastic mix of RPG and Survival. I love this game beside it's shortcomings I'll talk more about next. I refrain from repeating all the good that can be said about this game and has already been said hundredths of times here in the review section by others. If you want to know more about why exactly this game is so great please read theses reviews. If the following issues I have with the game would get fixed I would rate it a 9.5 out of 10.

    Constructive Feedback:
    ====================
    1. UI Shortcomings
    1.1. General UI Shortcomings
    The UI is in dire need of some tweaking! The player has too much to click to get an overview and to do certain things. Another thing is the radial menu, it is often in the way of where I want to click leading to the click getting not recognized. Beside that I realized is that the UI is not consistent e.g. you can move your party via right click and drag but when you choose to move your party via the radial menu you have to left click on the target. One more thing that is irritating that you can't double click on things like towns and parties or whatever to open their dialogue windows like inventory and so on.
    1.2. Quest Information
    When hovering with the mouse over a quest marker on the map it should show a short quest description. Clicking on a quest marker on the map should open the quest window showing the latest information for that quest. Besides that the quest marker should indicate the difficulty of the quest like encounters are marked with skulls. Additionally the skull should be color coded for the different kind of fighting challenges so that the player can easily see that for example this one quest is a 3 skull social challenge and so on.
    2. Repetitive Art Usage
    Character portraits and character names get used repetitively leading to characters having the same name or character portrait. However, the user can at least change the name of the characters. Even better would be if a character name generator would be incorporated and if the user could use his own custom character portraits.    … Expand
  23. Hassanka
    Jan 2, 2016
    10
    Addictive game that mix civilization, Survival games, and card games together.
    On the first look its just nice, but after you get deeper, you realize its a unique game.
    Difficulty settings are really big difference. On easy or normal with save enabled, you will be able to finish first playtrough in 15 hours. But, when you choose harder difficulty, with no save (ironman mode) , you will    Addictive game that mix civilization, Survival games, and card games together.
    On the first look its just nice, but after you get deeper, you realize its a unique game.
    Difficulty settings are really big difference.
    On easy or normal with save enabled, you will be able to finish first playtrough in 15 hours.
    But, when you choose harder difficulty, with no save (ironman mode) , you will realize new ways how to solve problems and game became even more interesting.
    You are forced to play safe, and consider each move, because losing half of your party could be fatal.
    I hope there will be addonns with more missions or more endings, but game is very fun to play like it is now.    … Expand
  24. AardvarkPepper
    Dec 27, 2015
    10
    Thea is a good game of itself. It's also quite unique. It's not "perfect", but the more I thought about giving the game only a 9 -

    Has complexity? Check. But is it overdone? No, it's presented relatively simply. Has unique art? Check. Is it a bit cheesy? Yes, perhaps in places. But it is undeniably good aesthetics. Sound? Check. Music, voiceovers, etc. Replayability?    Thea is a good game of itself. It's also quite unique. It's not "perfect", but the more I thought about giving the game only a 9 -

    Has complexity? Check. But is it overdone? No, it's presented relatively simply.
    Has unique art? Check. Is it a bit cheesy? Yes, perhaps in places. But it is undeniably good aesthetics.
    Sound? Check. Music, voiceovers, etc.
    Replayability? Check. Customizable difficulty settings (plural is correct; you can change any number of things that affect your final score multiplier).
    Throw in unique gameplay, a bit of humor, and this is not a game that deserves just a 9. Maybe a 9.9, but just "9" sells this game short.
    Definitely give this a try if you're interested in the genres at all.    … Expand
  25. Mordobb
    Dec 15, 2015
    9
    Awesome and smart game. Not based on visuals but reimagining the already existing with a imagination and smartness. Don t expect stellar GFX. They are good and they aren t the focus of the game.
    Prepare to have long and uncertain games, and turns of events that can save you or make an already "won" game to a disaster...
    If your weak, you ll get pissed. No cheating here, smart settings    Awesome and smart game. Not based on visuals but reimagining the already existing with a imagination and smartness. Don t expect stellar GFX. They are good and they aren t the focus of the game.
    Prepare to have long and uncertain games, and turns of events that can save you or make an already "won" game to a disaster...
    If your weak, you ll get pissed.
    No cheating here, smart settings let stuff quite interesting.
    N
    really minor points could be improved and are being....but the game is awesome.    … Expand
  26. CaptnCavern
    Dec 12, 2015
    10
    The major leak of this game is that you can't stop playing when you start #nomorelife ! You can easily spend 10 hours a days on it for weeks : each game can last long, and repetability is awesome.
  27. Omika_pearl
    Dec 9, 2015
    9
    As an author primarily of dark fantasy allegory, myth, and bleak science-fiction, Thea: The Awakening speaks to my soul. As a woman, it's nice to see some grave lady deities represented - Mokosh being my favorite. Whomever did the art for this game deserves special recognition.

    So much about this takes me back to my childhood, poring over old books and fantasy accessories for CRPGs and    As an author primarily of dark fantasy allegory, myth, and bleak science-fiction, Thea: The Awakening speaks to my soul. As a woman, it's nice to see some grave lady deities represented - Mokosh being my favorite. Whomever did the art for this game deserves special recognition.

    So much about this takes me back to my childhood, poring over old books and fantasy accessories for CRPGs and the old artwork in the Diablo booklets. It has that classic, gritty 90's American pop-art style that will always be a part of my mental landscape.

    As a game it functions well. I'm a strategy addict, and a survival-game addict, so putting these two together ALONG WITH gorgeous art and serious mythological chops? I couldn't be happier.

    Well, I could. There are issues.

    - Tedious micromanagement. I'm not a huge fan. Some quality of life improvements would be great, chiefly, the ability to hit a single button when creating a new expedition and automatically supply it with, say, twenty or thirty days of a variety of food and fuel. As it stands, this is the single most tedious thing in the game, having to manually drag every single item and manually enter in the numbers. I'm old. It hurts my poor hand after a while, and interrupts the flow of the game.

    - Weird card game combat. Am I the only one who just clicks auto-resolve every time? Like, EVERY time? Even if I liked the card game (I don't really care for it) it doesn't add much to the experience, in my opinion. This isn't Age of Wonders 3, we don't have the budget for a serious hex field and some turn-based combat, I get that. It just feels like a waste of time. But since it doesn't force itself on you, I suppose it's not a big deal.

    Those are my only two issues, really. Some people have complained about the 'writing' being bad because the person who wrote this game's events and designed the world clearly has some incredibly MINOR issues with English. I wouldn't even call them issues, it's more like reading an accent, which I enjoy, as it gets me looking at my native tongue in different ways. "weakened, lost, and scared" I would have used 'frightened' or 'afraid' but they chose 'scared.' Somehow, I find that more compelling. It has a child-like quality to it. It conveys that sense of helplessness better. It is an excellent word choice, but I would have never done it.

    As a professional, let me tell you: this writing is exceptional. Some of the best writing I've ever seen was ESL. Why? Because of earnestness and enthusiasm, and storytelling. Atmosphere. See, the stray odd word usage actually spices up the world for me. This game has soul. It has so much obvious passion pushing behind every word and paragraph. This game loves itself and it loves its players. And with its sincere roots in myth, it can't go wrong.

    The orcs I especially like. They have this strange way of speaking with semi-modern slang. I heard one reviewer complain about that - I've looked. It's only the orcs who do that. Chalk it up to cultural differences. I found it charming, but, that's just my opinion.

    Buy this game, on sale or not. I have four friends on my list who want this game but haven't bought it yet. It's twenty dollars. It's worth thirty. Buy it.    … Expand
  28. Enosu
    Dec 7, 2015
    9
    I have been lurking on this site for years and never once felt the need to go through with making an account until now. This game is so underappreciated. Not just because it is amazing (top reviews do a good job explaining why) but because the dev team is fantastic as well. They reply to pretty much every relevant discussion topic on Steam.

    The ONLY thing holding this game back is    I have been lurking on this site for years and never once felt the need to go through with making an account until now. This game is so underappreciated. Not just because it is amazing (top reviews do a good job explaining why) but because the dev team is fantastic as well. They reply to pretty much every relevant discussion topic on Steam.

    The ONLY thing holding this game back is simply a lack of features caused by a lack of production power. The dev team is too small and poor to get all these features done on time. If this game isn't successful chances are it will be abandoned, but even after a failed Kickstarter. they continued on, and I am so glad they did. This game is breath of fresh air.

    After going through title after title dropping every new game since Pillars of Eternity, GTA, and the Witcher, there is finally another game that makes me lose track of time.

    The devs need your help. Please purchase this game! It's only $20! Future DLCs are FREE as well, unlike Civilization.

    I can only imagine what could have been done if that Kickstarter was successful; how amazing a fully realized Thea would be. But I'm still going to play the **** out of this game. With how constantly its being updated, it will be a long time before I get bored.    … Expand
  29. Rafotron
    Dec 6, 2015
    10
    An incredibly personable, meticulously designed and atmospheric game. Beautiful art, a dark story wrapped in Slavic mythology and a steel backbone of carefully interwoven card game mechanics coupled with rogue-like and strategy elements.

    One of the most innovative and special games of the last few years. Buy it.
  30. GeneStarwind
    Nov 30, 2015
    6
    It's relatively fast paced, has good artwork, the story is solid, the voice acting is the strongest point in my honest opinion and it has a tremendous amount of depth. Play the game on normal or easier and you will see that this game is average at best. It is relatively difficult to understand the depth of the game, yet it is quite fun when you learn. ` ()

    ` Yet despite these obvious    It's relatively fast paced, has good artwork, the story is solid, the voice acting is the strongest point in my honest opinion and it has a tremendous amount of depth. Play the game on normal or easier and you will see that this game is average at best. It is relatively difficult to understand the depth of the game, yet it is quite fun when you learn. ` ()

    ` Yet despite these obvious strong points, the game is unbelievably underwhelming in terms of actual game play, and this is primarily due to the blatant and inconsiderate amount of RNG dumped onto the player. ` ()

    ` Playing the game on any difficulty higher than normal is excruciating. The RNG you have to deal with is unbelievable. 100+ hours later of playing this game (at least 60 of which were save scumming), and I'm shocked that you can't control the most basic elements of this game in the slightest. I keep hoping I'm going to stumble upon something or other that will change this, to no avail whatsoever. ` ()

    ` You are given no choice as to which starting resources you have, forcing you to create a new game over and over and over until you get a good starting set. This can and probably will take hours. ` ()

    ` Save scumming is a necessity in this game to allow you to get proper rewards for defeating enemies and for resetting the position of new resources that you research, if you are even given the option at all, which it seems to me is no longer the case. This is complete time waster and it is extremely punishing of common sense and basic game design concepts. ` ()

    ` You cannot choose which stats your characters receive when they level up. There are over 20+ stats, many of which feel completely useless (Animal Kinship, Attractiveness, Tactics) or otherwise totally underwhelming compared to the primarily useful ones (Gathering, Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, Magic, Will, etc). Leveling up occurs simultaneously and automatically across all of your characters and it occurs several dozens of times for every single new game you play. Meaning in order to get an even basically competent group of characters, you need to save scum over and over and over for every single level you get for a near perfect stat growth for your entire group, which will probably be between 10 to 30 characters. This-is-excruciating! ` ()

    ` You cannot choose which of your characters are placed into combat positions.... I am amazed that anyone would even remotely consider this to be an effective way to design combat..... ` ()

    ` You are forced to flip a coin for almost every encounter to determine who goes first, you or your opponent. If you fail on even the most remotely challenging encounter, you almost guaranteed lose the game and several hours of your time of progress in your current game. And even when you win the coin flip, you still have to deal with the RNG of determining how many cards you can play each turn, which can result in an automatic loss without chance of recovery based solely on RNG! ` ()

    ` You are not given a choice as to which enchantments you place on your items upon creation, almost 99% of which either have an extremely low bonus stat, even when made of the best possible materials, or have the worst possible stat you could get, making the item almost totally worthless for the intended purpose. ` ()

    ` Simple things like being able to choose what your starting resources are, your starting characters, your starting equipment, your character progression, who goes first in combat, which characters you use in combat, where your new resources are spawned, etc, etc, are completely omitted and instead replaced with the most bizarre, overwhelming RNG I've ever seen in my entire life. ` ()

    ` To top it off, there's massive stuttering in this game. It becomes more and more noticeable after researching a few resources. ` ()

    ` This is one hell of an impressively designed RNG simulator. The kind of simulator that prevents the player from having any actual control over anything going on in this game. This is not the way strategy games should be designed.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

69
#69 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
72
#72 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 31, 2016
    80
    Thea: The Awakening offers an entertaining combination of crafting and card games, but suffers from poor storytelling. [March 2016]
  2. Digitally Downloaded
    Feb 23, 2016
    70
    Thea: The Awakening makes for something of a grim, low-power 4X strategy game that works extremely well with its particularities. Proper planning can only take a God so far as adaptability and luck plays a major role with random events that could very well lay waste to everything. While that's not necessarily always good fun, what it does do remarkably well in building the tense atmosphere that is quite unique for the genre.
    Read full review
  3. Games Master UK
    Feb 9, 2016
    70
    Ultimately, Thea's genre blend is a success, but basic, bare bones presentation and repetitious combat hold it back. [Jan 2016, p.80]
See all critic reviews »