This War of Mine: The Little Ones
LumiScore?Our 0–100 score for how developmentally beneficial and low-risk this game is for children. Higher is better.
Growth
62/100
Growth Value
- Problem Solving
- Strategic Thinking
- Empathy
Risk
LOW
Engagement Patterns
Minimal pressure to spend or play excessively.
Heads up
Parent Pro-Tip
Play alongside your teenager and pause after major moral decisions — moments like choosing whether to steal medicine from an elderly couple are perfect conversation starters about real-world ethics, war, and humanitarian crises.
Top Skills Developed
Development Areas
Representation?How diverse the game's characters are in gender and ethnicity. Higher = more authentic representation. Display only — does not affect time recommendation.
Bechdel Test?The Bechdel Test checks whether a game has at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man. A simple measure of representation.— Passes the test
The game features multiple female survivor characters who interact with each other about survival tasks, resource management, and moral dilemmas beyond any male character.
Parent Pro-Tip
Co-playing transforms this already rich ethical experience into an active dialogue. Discussing in-the-moment choices reinforces critical thinking and empathy, and the game's real historical inspiration (the Siege of Sarajevo) opens a natural door to deeper conversations about history, conflict, and the human cost of war.
What your child develops
This War of Mine: The Little Ones is a remarkably thought-provoking survival game that places ethical reasoning and empathy at its very core. Players must make genuinely difficult moral decisions — whether to steal from a vulnerable family, whether to trade with desperate neighbors, or how to shield a child from psychological trauma — making this one of the richest games available for developing critical thinking and ethical awareness. The resource management and crafting systems exercise real strategic planning and problem-solving, while the narrative literacy required to parse journal entries, radio broadcasts, and character backstories supports strong reading and language engagement. The inclusion of The Little Ones expansion deepens emotional intelligence by asking players to consider a child's psychological wellbeing alongside physical survival. The game's grounding in the real-world Bosnian War also creates meaningful opportunities for learning transfer to history, geography, and social studies.
Regulatory Compliance
Tap a badge for details. Grey = not yet assessed.
About this game
This War of Mine is a game about civilians who are trying to survive during a military conflict. The game was inspired by the real-life Bosnian War.