Common Sense Media Review
Creativity, compelling play mark fantastic indie strategy.
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Wargroove
What's It About?
WARGROOVE is a retro-inspired indie strategy game done in a retro anime bobble-head style. The dastardly Lord Valder is in search of a legendary weapon called Requiem, and you—as Mercia, Queen of Cherrystone—must stop him. The battle between good and evil plays out in the single player campaign mode through turn-based battles. Commanders take turns moving, recruiting units (soldiers, knights, pikemen, etc.) and capturing villages to build resources. Winning depends not only on using your turns well, but noting the conditions of the terrain along with your units' strengths and weaknesses. It helps too, to master Commanders' "Wargrooves," unique powers that charge up during battle. Additional single player gameplay comes in the form of two unlockable modes: Arcade mode, where you fight one-off battles against the AI, and Puzzle mode, where you're tasked with winning battles in a certain number of rounds. Once you're ready to trade the AI for real human opponents, you can host or join local and online two to four player multiplayer matches, and when you've mastered the existing maps, you can use the game's built in tool set to create your own.
Is It Any Good?
This Indie strategy game, with its anime story, great pixel graphics, and addictive turn-based gameplay makes it great for strategy fans and tactical newcomers alike. Players young and old will be immediately sucked into Wargroove's land of Aurania thanks to charming, colorful pixel art and a noble, brave heroine -- Princess Mercia of Cherrystone. An expert tutorial teaches you and Mercia how to fight, making rules that could feel overwhelming feel accessible and fun. After that, turn-based combat in the single player Campaign mode gives you plenty of time to learn strategy and think about your next moves. The twelve hour Campaign spins a good (if typical) fantasy yarn full of emotion and unexpected humor, and finishing it unlocks additional Commanders, Wargroove lore, and the entertaining single player Arcade and Puzzle modes. It also gives you the skills you need to take on multiplayer.
Multiplayer pits two to four players against one another in real time or turn-based matches via Quick Play or friend code. While Wargroove has no text chat, it's got a built-in link to the voice chat service, Discord, and allows for cross-platform play among players on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox One. This is all great stuff for strategy game lovers, but perhaps better than all of that are the built in tools that gives you the power to create your own maps and cutscenes and share them online. These tools are so amazingly intuitive and easy, you can make your own custom map in minutes. There's a healthy number of player-created maps in the Custom Content menu already, and it's easy to imagine ambitious types creating some incredible story campaigns. It's unfortunate that the PlayStation 4 version doesn't support cross-platform play, but it does let players access all player created content. With all of this on offer at a reasonable $19.99, Wargroove is good, kid-friendly entertainment that will keep your kids busy for hours. It's so good in fact, you'll be sneaking off to play it once the kids are in bed.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about playing games that let kids be creative. Can games like that help your kids enjoy being creators as well as consumers?
What kinds of creative projects can your kids make on their own/on a shoestring budget? Are these more fun than costly projects?
Do voice and text chat make online multiplayer more fun or more intimidating?
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : Chucklefish
- Release date : July 23, 2019
- Genre : Strategy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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