A Country Named Hunger is a turn-based strategy and simulation game set in a post-apocalyptic world where an AI-orchestrated zombie outbreak has ended civilization. Players lead a company of road mercenaries who travel between settlements, accept paid jobs, and engage in combat with any threats that block their path. Resources like money and food deplete daily, forcing constant decisions about survival in a world without a future.
Gameplay
Core gameplay centers on managing a mercenary company across a living world map. Groups of enemies and other factions move, pursue, or avoid one another in real time between turns. Players navigate settlements to accept jobs, trade goods, and restock supplies while tracking food, tools, and multiple types of ammunition. Each weapon requires specific ammo, and running dry mid-fight leaves fighters reliant on melee options.
Combat unfolds on a grid where every survivor receives a fixed number of action points per turn. These points fund movement, attacks, reloading, or seeking cover behind wrecked vehicles and walls. Factors such as hit chance, armor protection, and morale influence outcomes. Death is permanent, removing fallen mercenaries from the roster entirely.
Company management adds depth through hiring and development. Up to twelve fighters form the active line, supported by another twelve in reserve. Each individual carries unique skills, backgrounds, and strengths. Leveling grants perks, while better gear improves performance. Reserves step in immediately when active members fall.
Game Modes
The game operates as a single-player experience focused on open-ended survival and decision-making. Players chart their own course through the ruined world, balancing honest work for steady pay against riskier options like intercepting trade caravans or assaulting settlements. Reputation with the Cordon faction affects prices and safety, while aggressive choices carry long-term consequences.
Supply management and economic simulation run continuously. Markets fluctuate based on trade activity, and players must weigh short-term gains against the ongoing costs of food and maintenance. The world map supports emergent encounters as different factions interact independently of player input.
Enemies and Factions
Several distinct threats shape encounters. Zroids represent reanimated dead fused with machine components by an unknown artificial intelligence. They demonstrate organization and intelligence, pursuing inscrutable objectives. Feral Zombies move slowly and pose limited danger individually but overwhelm in numbers. Raiders strike opportunistically against settlements and caravans when odds favor them. The Cordon embodies the remnants of federal authority, controlling multiple survivor outposts and responding aggressively to those who disrupt their order.
Additional groups exist beyond these core types, each following distinct behavioral patterns that influence how players approach travel and jobs.
Is It Worth Playing?
A Country Named Hunger suits players who enjoy deliberate, tactical decision-making in a resource-scarce setting. The combination of grid-based combat with permanent death creates high stakes for every engagement, while company building and supply tracking reward careful planning. Those drawn to simulation elements will find satisfaction in monitoring the simulated economy, protecting or disrupting caravans, and navigating faction relationships. The game remains in development with a release date listed as coming soon and currently carries no user reviews. Individuals seeking turn-based strategy with strong emphasis on roster management and post-apocalyptic survival mechanics may find the systems described compelling once it launches.
