Games like Don’t Starve and This War of Mine
If you have played Don’t Starve or This War of Mine and liked trying to stay alive on very little, this is about Nile’s End: what it shares with them, and where it differs.
What it shares
- Needs are the game. Food, water, health, sleep and body temperature. Neglect one and the others suffer.
- Making things from scrap. Things are not handed to you. You find materials and make what you need, and you take things apart and mend them.
- Hard choices. On the road you meet people and events with choices: help or move on, take the risk or stay clear. No choice comes free.
- Death counts. In survival mode, if you die the saved game is erased.
Where it differs
The world is bigger. In Don’t Starve you are in a generated world, and in This War of Mine you are with other people in one house in a besieged city. In Nile’s End you cross a whole country on foot, by bicycle or in a vehicle, from the Delta to Upper Egypt and Sinai, on a map of the real Egypt.
There is a reason to move. Story mode sends you after your family, scattered across Egypt by the war. If you do not want a story, survival mode has none, and death is the end.
The world moves. Khamsin storms, flash floods, raids, and fallout that travels with the wind. The radio tells you what is coming a day or two ahead.
In Egyptian Arabic. The story, the events and the tips are all in Egyptian dialect, with English if you prefer.
What it does not have
To be straight: Nile’s End is a much smaller game than those two. It does not have their polish, their size or the big teams behind them. What it has is that it is free, has no ads, works offline, and is set somewhere you know.
Give it a try
If you like this kind of game, Nile’s End is a chance to try it in Egypt. And start with the guide if you want first-day tips.
