It’s time to build your tribe and prevail against the darkness, can you survive Gord?
Gord is a new colony sim developed by Covenant.dev and published by Team17. Set in a dark fantasy world, you must embark on quests whilst managing the tribe’s populace. Your people may have a story or two to tell that will affect all your fates! Come with us as we explore this exciting real time strategy game.
Gord Gameplay
Inspired by Slavic folklore, Gord is a city builder, colony sim with fantasy and survival elements. You must protect and grow your tribe to survive the fearsome monsters, threats from rival tribes, and mysterious power that lurks in the dark.
There is great variety in the gameplay, as all the different genres and mechanics weave together. Grow your humble settlement into a full-on fortress by building palisades and developing structures. This will help keep the monsters out and your tribe happy! Looking after your populace’s well-being is a key factor for survival. You must keep track of each subject’s Sanity levels, which can be affected by hunger, illness, and death of family. If their sanity is pushed too far, they may flee the safety of your settlement.
Be careful not to neglect the Gods either, for you need to keep them happy with prayers. As a result, you can cast powerful incantations that will keep your settlement safe. The incantations provide either offensive or defensive advantages in combat, helping to turn the tide in your favour against the invading forces.
Detailed and Rich
To progress the story, you can take on versatile quests. Each Scenario will have main objectives for you to fulfil, but there are plenty of side quests and encounters that send you to the far corners of the land. Fight legendary creatures, uncover dark secrets, or even pursue personal matters for your tribe. The subjects’ stories, as well as their well-being, will affect your tribe’s shared fate, after all.
Throughout your travels in Gord, you will find pages from The Chronicle. This details the world’s history, ancient factions, Gods, and the mystical Whisperers. Finding these pages is just yet another challenge for you to conquer, learning about the Gord universe and how it blends real-life Slavic folklore with dark fantasy.
Versatile
What’s more, in Gord you can craft each play through to be different. There are a wide range of Scenario options to choose from, with plenty of customisable variables. Start with something simple and easy or set yourself the toughest challenge yet! You can change primary objectives, the game environment, raid intensity, and much more. You can even change the weather! With so much scope, Gord has near endless replayability for you to explore.
Experiencing Gord with Simon
I’m going to step in here for Emily, as I was given the chance to check out Gord for myself. I’ve played a lot of strategy games; in fact, it was a strategy game that got me into PC gaming, the original Command and Conquer. I’ve also played a fair number of colony management games, such as Oxygen Not Included. The combination of the two genres feels like a good match.
So, let’s have a look at what Gord has to offer. First off is the graphics. Gord perfectly captures its medieval peasant setting in all its muddy glory; you can tell your workers are used to getting their hands dirty. This is also well represented in the buildings you can construct in your Gord, for example the lumbermill is made from rough wooden walls with some thatch for a roof and a simple piece of cloth hanging as the door. This all serves to draw you into the world. In fact, it genuinely makes you want to help keep these people and this settlement alive against everything the world has to throw at them.
Gord also boasts a fantastic soundscape. The music is subtle, there to help set the mood for the most part and allows the sounds of the world around your Gord to immerse you further. The combination is very soothing, until it isn’t. You can go from hearing your serfs pattering around in the mud chopping wood and collecting reeds, to the peace being broken due to a sudden attack by a pack of wolves or hostile wild folk!
Then there’s the voice acting. Everyone involved with the performances needs to take a bow, from the conversations between characters such as Edwyn and Boghdan, to the lore building voice overs. All are superbly performed and produced.
Playing Gord
Now on to the gameplay; if you’ve any experience with either of the genres I previously mentioned, you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting into Gord. You are the Steward to the King of Calanthia, a Kingdom looking to expand their borders into the northern wild lands of Lysatia. To do so, you’ve been tasked with taking control of a local tribe called The New Dawn and preparing the lands ready for Calanthia’s army to arrive. You’ll have to establish settlements called Gords, to harvest the land while providing protection from the horrors that lie in wait in the wilderness.
Gord boasts an excellent campaign, which will gradually guide you through everything you need to know. What’s more, there are four difficulty settings, letting players of all abilities find the perfect challenge they’re comfortable with. Soon, you’ll be building highly efficient settlements and taking on all manners of creatures big and small. Once accustomed to the campaign, you can test your skills with a Custom Scenario, which features multiple options for creating a unique challenge to overcome.
The settlement building is well handled, with several resources to balance such as wood, reeds, and gold. Utilise these resources to construct a wide range of buildings, including forager huts, archery ranges, and even meaderies. Assign your workers to a building and they’ll perform those tasks, gaining proficiency for better results.
Your villagers have their own needs that must be met. Not only do your people have individual health bars, but a unique sanity bar. Making your workers toil away in the dark, letting them perform unwelcome tasks such as looting a corpse, or even the loss of a family member can have a toll on their sanity. When this drops too low, your workers won’t perform as well. An archer, for example, could flee from battle, leaving your workers unprotected against a roving pack of wolves. Alongside health and sanity, there is also faith, which is what allows you to cast incantations. This will be a vital tool to allow you to overcome the tougher encounters the further you press into Lysatia.
With its excellent story, easy to get to grips with gameplay, alongside fantastic graphics and audio, Gord would make an outstanding addition to any game collection. Oh, and did I forget to mention, you can name both your Gord and Villagers? Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t name a villager after that guy that just winds you up, just to send them to go poke a wolf pack alone, but who is going to know?
What Platforms is Gord Available to Play On?
Gord is available to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and on PC via Steam. It is a single-player adventure, so there is no need for crossplay support. If you wanted to share your survival efforts with friends, you could always stream your endeavours!
What are the Official Specifications for Gord?
Is your gaming PC a vital member of the tribe or going to leave you lost in the woods? Here are the official specifications for Gord:
| Component | Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6600 AMD Ryzen 5 1600 | Intel Core i7-9700K AMD Ryzen 5 7600X |
| Memory | 8GB RAM | 16GB RAM |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB AMD Radeon R9 380 4GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 20GB available space | 20GB available space |
| Additional Notes | 1080p @ 30 FPS | 1080p @ 30+ FPS |
Best PCs to Play Gord
With ghosts, monsters, and even dragons plaguing your tribe, it’s a must to make sure your gaming PC is up to the task. We have two PCs and a laptop picked out today that we think would be perfect for taking on Gord. Should they not fit your tribe’s vibe, we have an extensive collection of gaming PCs and laptops just waiting to be explored.
Refract Gaming Jade Pre-Built PC
The Refract Jade is well suited to play Gord at 1080p resolutions. Equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU, this pre-built gaming PC will optimise your gaming performance thanks to the Zen 4 architecture. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPU will bring the gritty aesthetic to life, with realistic lighting and shadows really adding depth to the picture. Plus, with 32GB DDR5 RAM and a 1TB 2.5” SSD, you can game with near-zero lag and fast loading times. Nothing will slow your tribe down!
As part of our Refract Gaming range, the Refract Jade is pre-built and tested, ready to deliver. It also comes with a three year parts and labour warranty, for that extra peace of mind. Sadly, damage by monster is not covered!
Learn more about our Refract Gaming range. Each PC has been expertly crafted by or tech team to support different playstyles.
MSI Vector GP68 Gaming Laptop
Build your tribe on the go, with the MSI Vector GP68. This gaming laptop harnesses the power of an Intel Core i9-13950HX CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, for smooth operations and photorealistic graphics. What’s more, this gaming laptop has a 16.0” QHD+ display with a 240Hz refresh rate, meaning you can defend your village in crisp detail and buttery smooth frame rates. To keep the MSI Vector GP76 running smoothly, it has 16GB DDR5 RAM as well as high-speed NVMe storage for Gord and all your favourite applications.
The MSI Vector GP68 is equipped with the Cooler Boost 5 thermal solution, to keep the vital components at optimum temperature. This cooling system utilises two fans and six heat pipes that work in harmony to minimise heat whilst maximising airflow.
MSI has an outstanding range of gaming laptops. Check out our dedicated guide to learn how they are primed for gaming, creating, and more.
OcUK Gaming Khopesh Configurable PC
Take your tribe to the next level with the OcUK Gaming Khopesh. This gaming PC is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X CPU and Zen 4 architecture, for the ultimate gaming experience. Paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, you can play Gord with all the latest innovations AMD and NVIDIA have to offer. Enjoy buttery smooth frame rates, rich detail, and optimised workflows. Plus, with 32GB DDR5 RAM, the Khopesh is primed for streaming all your tribal adventures.
What’s more, the OcUK Gaming Khopesh is one of our configurable gaming PCs. This means you can adjust the base spec to better suit your needs. Customise the PC case, CPU, AIO cooler, memory, and operating system, as well as opting for up to three SSD storage drives. Changes will affect price.
Why should you buy a gaming PC from Overclockers UK? Here are ten great reasons why!
Stay Sane and Game On
Will you be picking up Gord? Let us know in the comments below!
PC specs are subject to change.
- 10 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK for two years, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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