CountryBalls Heroes

While most grand strategy games pursue a realistic approach when it comes to representing real-life politics, CountryBalls Heroes proves that being serious isn’t the only way to go. Based on a popular political meme known as “Polandball,” this game’s turn-based combat aims to be as approachable as possible.

The game’s simplified strategy and cartoony art style might make it seem like a dull attempt at a Civ clone, but there’s much more going on with CountryBalls Heroes. Let’s see what we can expect to see in the full version of this Innominate Games’ title.

More than a Meme

The basic gist of the Polandballs meme is to represent each country as a ball-shaped caricature of themselves. This includes poking fun at some of the most well-known stereotypes from each country, often reducing each ball to its most basic characteristics. From a faction and strategy viewpoint, this works great for characterization purposes.

CountryBalls Heroes arrives a bit late to the party, considering that the Polandball meme has been making the rounds around the internet since 2009. This isn’t the first time these country balls have made it into the world of video games, either: games like Polandball: Not Safe for World and Polandball: Can Into Space have seen the countryballs as their protagonists.

This game, however, promises to go a step beyond your everyday meme game by including competent turn-based strategy gameplay. At first glance, it looks like if Civilization was played by random countryballs, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That is, as long as you can get over the tons of often dated meme humor.

Into the Ball Pit

Perhaps it is because of their basic designs, but almost all of the CountryBalls are positively charming in their own ways. Maybe that’s the reason why the game has over 90 unique units on its roster, and that’s not including its over 30 unique hero units.

Additionally, CountryBalls Heroes features seven playable factions, each with a unique aesthetic and combat style. While most factions have pretty much the same pool of basic units, the way how they operate and which heroes they have at their disposal changes with each faction.

Some cameos from real-life politicians and characters also appear here and there throughout the game. While these cameos are a fun diversion, your enjoyment of these characters will depend on how well the game’s humor resonates with you, as it’s one of the most divisive things about CountryBalls Heroes.

Drawn for Combat

The game’s turn-based combat takes place on grid-like arenas comprised of multiple hexagons, much like Sid Meier's Civilization V’s hexagon boards. Base building is also an integral part of the gameplay, as players can customize their homelands fitting their factions themes. Also, expect tons of vodka and vodka-related jokes.

It’s also worth noting that the game’s art style definitely has its moments. While the simple Polandball designs are charming enough, the amount of detail put into the world’s map and the different bases are nothing short of impressive. The retro, early-2000’s flash game look of the overworld is particularly beautiful.

Pros:

• Solid turn-based combat
• Incredibly charming visuals
• Fun base-building mechanics
• Tons of units and unique heroes

Cons:

• Humor style feels a bit dated
• Combat can be unbearably slow
• Weak plot and characters