Online game "Game Of Thrones: Winter Is Coming"

The iconic HBO series Game of Thrones, as you know, is based on the novel A Song of Ice and Fire by George Martin. And on it in turn has already come out quite a few game adaptations, including the official browser "Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming" - one of the most intense, diverse and popular in its direction. We tell you more about it today in our review.

"Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming" is arranged quite traditionally for browser-based strategies. The story, according to tradition, performs more of a decorative function, but the main thing is that it copes with its task - it recreates the atmosphere of the original series and ties together the different parts of the gameplay.

The task is quite clear - playing as one of the lords of Westeros, who has his own family castle, we must stop the incessant war and bring peace, and to do this we need to unite the Seven disparate kingdoms, which, as you know, constantly conflict with each other. In addition, there are periodic global events like the attack on Westeros by an army of the dead led by the King of the Dead himself.

You can't meet all the challenges alone. And the official license from HBO and the direct involvement of Warner Bros. allows us to use the characters from the TV series as allies, which look exactly the same. Namely, we'll have such famous lords and ladies of Westeros as Jon Snow, Robb, Cersei and Jaime Lannister, Margaery Tyrell, Arya and Sansa Stark. In addition, we also have our own dragon, a gift from Daenerys Targaryen herself - all we have to do is raise it!

Events are quite a lot, sometimes you even have to make a choice, agree to help someone, refuse or ignore. And replay will not be possible, as in single-player games - there is no preservation. So you have to act on your own risk. It is even possible to get married and have a magnificent wedding, during which all participants can give bride in the general chat gifts. True, you first need to decide how cool wedding you spend (well, and of course, to find a partner) - it depends on the bonuses and gifts. Well, or you can stay single - for that will give a special ring, which you can pump, but the bonuses will, of course, less. In any case, do not get bored.

Both the main hero-lord himself and the allies who join him participate in battles and develop as they should. As of today, the maximum level of the lord is 80, and the commanders (that's what his allies are called here) are 60. Commanders manage certain units (infantry, cavalry, archers, lances and other fighters of varying degrees of toughness) and use their unique skills in battles - some heal allies, some deliver powerful stun blows on several targets at once. We have to use these skills ourselves manually as they "charge up" and select targets.

The strength of an army depends on the level of the lord and commander. But first the allies have to be summoned, to get them into their ranks. Some join by plot, but mostly for this we collect special commander medals, and these in turn can be obtained by going through chapters of the campaign and taking part in events.

After that we start to pump and develop our charges, but it's not quite like the usual role-playing system, where we just consistently gain levels up to 60-80th. Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming" has a rather interesting system of awakening, the essence of which boils down to the fact that to increase the overall level limit, you must first increase the overall rank of the character, measured in stars - and for this we spend valuable relics, grimoires and additional materials.

Also, to strengthen the lord and commanders can use the equipment, which not only increases the parameters, but also allows you to use additional skills. Moreover, while the lord's equipment affects the overall characteristics, the armor and weapons worn by his allies only strengthen them. You can find all this by participating in different activities and passing the levels of the campaign, where we mostly fight rebels of different levels and bosses. By upgrading your lord in this way, among other things, we unlock new talents for him, which are divided into combat and production - then these talents can also be developed, gaining new skill points.

Finally, as we said before, we also have our own dragon, given to us by Daenerys Targaryen. First we fulfill a number of conditions for it to hatch from an egg, then we develop it (from a dragon to an ancient dragon), send it together with the troops to fight or explore the lands of Westeros in search of resources. Also, the dragon has its own characteristics, affecting among other things the army, and useful talents, which, for example, accelerate the time of construction or research. And, of course, we can customize the appearance of your favorite dragon, changing the coloring or even adding scars, which among other things will affect the parameters of the pet.

As you have already understood, in Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming, of course, there is construction and production, and it's all connected to the development of your own castle and army. To train and hire troops, you need resources, which means you have to actively build mines, grounds, sawmills, and quarries and improve them. A warehouse is needed to increase the total supply limit. We win back new places to build by defeating enemies and rebels within the castle. Naturally, you can't do without barracks, infirmaries, military camps, garrison, and a training ring, where you can train your troops. A blacksmith shop will allow you to create and temper equipment.

The maester's tower gives access to various research, which helps with the army (e.g., opening up stronger troops), production (bonuses to resource extraction), and defense of the castle. Yes, the castle, improvement of which opens access to new buildings, increases the strength and size of the army, periodically need to defend. To do this you have to fortify walls, erect watchtowers (raven tower, where you can take under the protection of some of the lords), shelter.

And we can be attacked by other players through the global map - this is another, large layer of gameplay in Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming. On the one hand, we are free to send our own armies to fight rebel leaders and seize orphan resource sources. On the other hand, on the global map we can see where other players are located and can also attack them. However, for many actions on the global map you must first join an alliance and call for help from among the other users (for this purpose, in particular, you will need an embassy).

It is alliances and battles between them that are almost the main thing in the game. Everything works in a generally familiar way, according to the principle of guilds. Joining such an alliance gives you various advantages, allows you to receive certain gifts, request help from allies (even in construction, not only in war), but, most importantly, outside of alliances you will not take part in the main activities and events. For example, in the already mentioned confrontation with the King of the Night and his army of the dead: here, six alliances unite into one army to first defend six fortresses, which are attacked from different directions by white walkers, and then to hold out for an hour and not let the Wall be destroyed.

In addition to the battle of alliances, there are also battles of the kingdoms, where we are talking about battles between entire servers, not between specific alliances. Here, the game itself defines two opposing servers, after which all players from them can move into enemy territory to either attack the enemy's regular and great cities there and kill other users - well, or just to gather resources there and attack rebel leaders if you are not yet ready for serious battles with other users.

All of these actions allow you to earn points and contribute to the overall victory. The reward at the end of the event depends on the number of points earned. During the War of the Kingdoms it is impossible to leave the current alliance and join new ones. All cities leave the "peaceful" mode.

There are still elite tests for the alliances, various tournaments and the so-called "Battle of the Lords", which involved at least 10 servers. Here we are already talking about a kind of personal competition - the players are trying to win the so-called City of Champions, and the winner becomes the titular overlord. He not only gets the prizes he deserves, but also distributes awards to the kingdoms that helped him. However, the risks in this event are also great - if in the Battle of Alliances you can't lose troops, here it's the other way around, and your fighters die or are sent to the infirmary for treatment.

Of course, in Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming, the conditional free game has a microtransaction system that allows you to buy cool kits, resources and items, unlock new construction queues, and so on for real money. But there's also a huge amount of daily free rewards, all sorts of events and activities, where you get resources, boosters, valuable diamonds and other useful items when you're just playing and not doing anything on purpose - even if you just happen to be on the server at the right moment.

It is this, on the one hand, saturation, and on the other - democracy and accessibility and attract most of all in this project. And given that it is fairly new and constantly evolving, it is "Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming" - one of the most faithful ways to start your acquaintance with "browsers" today. Well, or continue - especially if you are a fan of George Martin and the cult series on HBO.

April 2022