Completely free, open source, no monetization
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“Not subject to any scummy publisher, forever free of intrusive DRM/subpar paid DLC/microtransations”
Steam review · 1 h played ↗
Battle for Wesnoth
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 94%Very Positive · 94%The Battle for Wesnoth Project2018Turn-Based Strategy · Turn-Based Tactics · Strategy
Free to play
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 52 min ago
The verdict
A free, open-source, hex-based fantasy tactics game with huge campaign and add-on content and deep terrain-based tactics. Skip it if you hate hit-chance RNG, which decides many fights.
Great for
Fans of turn-based tactics and Fire Emblem-style unit progression who accept luck and some save-scumming
Main risk
Percentage-based hit chances feel unfair and can override your tactical planning, pushing you to save-scum.
What players love
Huge amount of campaigns and add-ons
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“The current version has 17 main campaigns, more than 50 multiplayer maps and hundreds of community made campaigns, maps and factions.”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗
Deep tactics: terrain, time of day, leveling
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“like the way it handles the importance of terrain via how it affects unit evasion, the day-night cycle that hugely impacts the effectiveness of certain units”
Steam review · 37.9 h played ↗
Great music, pixel art and story
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“The graphics are made with love and detail and, combined with the absolute beast of a soundtrack”
Steam review · 85.1 h played ↗
Still actively updated after 20+ years
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“It's amazing that something this good is both free and getting active development.”
Steam review · 32.5 h played ↗
Runs on very weak hardware
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“will run on a potato chip”
Steam review · 31.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
RNG hit chances feel rigged and decide fights
Mentioned in ~3 in 5 negative reviews
“the game is 100% RNG, there is NO STRATEGY to this game.”
Steam review · 565.4 h played ↗
Turn limits and unfair campaign difficulty
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“The turn limit on every map is also killing strategy (in most cases).”
Steam review · 9.6 h played ↗
Encourages save-scumming
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 negative reviews
“It doesn't feel like a strategy game when your decisions aren't as significant as your luck”
Steam review · 12.5 h played ↗
Ranged units must attack adjacent
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews
“the fact that ranged units can only shoot when they're adjacent to the enemy drives me nuts”
Steam review · 1.1 h played ↗
Crashes, errors and broken editor
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“I can't play more than a few minutes before I get crash to desktop.”
Steam review · 21.3 h played ↗
Dated, tiny UI and no resolution control
Mentioned in ~1 in 25 negative reviews
“UI is way too small on 1080p and I have to strain my eyes to read the text.”
Steam review · 0.6 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable800 MB
Minimum
OSWindows 10 1903 or later
ProcessorDual-core 2.0 GHz or better
Memory2 GB RAM
Storage800 MB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 10 1903 or later
ProcessorDual-core 3.2 GHz or better
Memory4 GB RAM
Storage2 GB available space
OSWindows 10 1903 or later
ProcessorDual-core 2.0 GHz or better
Memory2 GB RAM
Storage800 MB available space
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