Why This Game, Now?

Hello there!  Heroiam Slava is a labor of love, and I appreciate each and every one of you for being here and lending your eyeballs to my project.  My name is Adam, and I wanted to talk for a minute about why I wrote HS and what the game means to me, personally.  This post might not be of interest to everyone, and I totally appreciate that!  If you don't have much interest in this topic, feel free to just get back to playing the game!

I have been a game developer for 20+ years, but always for other folks.  I have tried writing my own games a few times before, but the motivation never stuck. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, like many of us, I felt strongly that I wanted to do something.  And it immediately became clear to me that given my unique skill set, the best way I could raise awareness of the war was to write a game.  And so, I did!  Originally, I had this idea for a sort of Twilight Struggle-but-simpler game bouncing around in my head, but the game was intended to be multiplayer.  As I started adapting the idea to the Russo-Ukrainian war, however, I just simply couldn't grasp how I would make the Russian side fun.  I just wasn't inspired to try to create any kind of scenario where Russia was the protagonist.  And yes, I realize that playing a specific side in a game doesn't mean you approve of it; there are plenty of WWII games out there (Axis & Allies comes to mind) where you can play as Germany.  And perhaps with the passage of time, it will be easier to imagine a player at the helm of the Russian Army.  But I couldn't do it.  So, solitaire it is.

Sometimes folks ask me why a digital board game.  Well, I am fascinated by the genre.  I'm a board game player from many years back, and I still do love getting together with physical folks in real space for a game of Settlers.  But the digital space enables types of games, and mechanics in games, that would be impossible (or just very unwieldly) to do in real life.  I think the game that first opened my eyes to this was Hearthstone, which is like Magic: The Gathering but on steroids.  Even though that game clearly has paper-and-cardboard roots, it has long since gone well beyond anything that anyone could play in person.  You couldn't make physical Hearthstone cards anymore (if you ever could).

Anyway, Ukraine's cause is very near and dear to my heart.  I actually visited Kyiv for the first time in my life about 3 months ago (yes, during the war) and found the people to be every bit as inspiring in person as I had been told in the news.

I hope you enjoy the game.  Slava Ukraini.