Memoir '44 Is Getting a PC Version With a Roguelite Mode

Memoir '44 has been the gateway wargame for two decades, and it is finally getting a proper PC version. Slitherine has partnered with Asmodee to publish a digital edition of Richard Borg's hex-and-card WW2 game, with development handled by Volcanite Games and a release pencilled in for 2027.

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The tabletop original was published by Days of Wonder in 2004 to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings. It is turn-based tactical strategy built on hex movement, dice rolls and historically inspired scenarios, and its clever bit is the Command card system, which limits which part of the battlefield you can order about on any given turn. A perfect plan often collides with a rubbish hand.

All of that survives the move to a screen. Skirmish and multiplayer modes reproduce the 24 scenarios from the base game, so the version you know is intact. The interesting part is what is bolted on top. Volcanite is building an original single player campaign that borrows from roguelite deck builders: you earn Requisition Points to add and upgrade cards in your command deck between battles, spend a Medals currency on perks such as Specialization Cards that tweak individual units, and draw on brand new command cards that do not exist in the cardboard version.

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Speaking to Wargamer, the team also indicated that scenario building tools could reach the community after launch, which matters for a game whose fanbase has been designing and swapping its own battles for twenty years.

There is a while to wait, and the build shown was early, with placeholder interfaces and AI that needs work. Still, a Memoir '44 you can play against a friend in another country without posting them a battle map is a genuinely appealing prospect. In the meantime, the cardboard version remains one of the easiest wargames to get a non wargamer to try.

Sources: Wargamer | Slitherine press release | Days of Wonder