It wasn't for me the gameplay seemed slow in the beginning and honestly a bit confusing as I couldn't seem to do much the first few days.
I prefer to have some sort of images especially for the sex scenes which there were none at least for normal slaves, this is with portrait and body images.
If you like text based only games then this is probably good.
Having come from a thoroughly unenjoyable experience that is the sequel, this one is still a palate cleanser. When I first started playing this game I was deathly afraid that it would be an edgy Brothel Sim like experience but maaaaan was I wrong.
This game has the best combination of management, RPG, combat and story (no, not story I'm joking, its a porn game) of all slave trainers. Even my personal favorite on this site about (cannot name it for rule review reasons) "masters near Canaan or smth", seems bland when in this one I capture my 300th slave demon girl to complement my brothel birds collection.
The urge to act on self imposed challenges, no time limits and a relaxed power fantasy game experience make you WANT to explore every play style, every location and every randomly generated character.
(note that I mostly played this game with the arics expansion mod, highly recommended even on a first playthrough)
Whether you like Strive for power really depends on whether you somehow ends up losing yourself into the management/grind part. This is a mangement game first, a RPG second, and a hgame third.
My main issue is that the longer you play the more you encounter problems. After 100+d in the gametime, I have two big issues:
Lags. So many stuff happens that sometimes when clicking on a button the game freeze for a few seconds. And sometimes it crashes. And since there is no autosave and you can only save at home...Yeah.
Number of slaves. When you start having 30+ slaves, organizing them becomes a bit of a headache. You don't really have way to organize them, unfortunately.
Main story is trash, quest are bad, sex scenes are bad, combat is bad.
To be honest, I don't know why I like this game, but I like it anyway, what can I say?
Gameplay is interesting.
Combat is simple, yet engaging.
Art is beautiful.
Characters are memorable.
Allows customization.
Experience is rewarding.
Game has a wide variety of things to do.
Supports mods.
The only drawback of this game is that you just want much more after you've explored it all.
Strive for Power is one part JRPG, one part estate-management sim. Both halves of the game are mediocre at best, with no real standout moments or mechanics.
The combat is extremely simplistic - you have no AOE options in a game that likes to throw upwards of ten enemies at you at a time. So you mostly grind down enemies one at a time and the only real question is if you're willing to spend mana to make the fight go faster.
The slave management is... not much better. The primary way you make money is by taking on special requests that want a particular slave with 3-5 different attributes, for example a Male Teen with Strength of 2+. The best outcome is when you can just buy a slave like that for 50 gold and turn around and hand him over for the quest for 500+ gold, which actually feels very silly. The worse outcome is that you have a stable of 'for sale' slaves that are very slowly improving, but not wanting to spend their stats in case you run across a quest that you can use the stat points to push them over the edge for the quest.
There's a main story. It exists. Almost all the good shit (i.e. the illustrated slaves and sex scenes) exist in Sandbox mode too, so maybe do that instead of the main quest.
Also, there is a very obvious hole in the game where a portrait and full body image pack would go, but it is actually kind of a pain to find one this late in development (especially since the Drow have been renamed to avoid copyright infringement, so all the 'Drow' images are broken in the one pack I found).
I'd like to caveat this by stating that this is not a H game. But it does have H game elements in it, so while I would critique this work as a game, I will still put an emphasis on the H game elements.
Story
Pretty decent. Much better than most H games out there, with a fairly fleshed out world and its rules are well set. Reasons and rules are established as to what magic is, how mana is made (take a guess), and why slavery is widespread and accepted.
Basically, you're in a world where magic is so powerful the greatest power is indeed the mage guild. Kinda like how Arrakis is technically the most powerful planet in Dune because of spice. You play as a person who wants a slice of that pie, and so your involvement in that world is pretty much determined from there.
There are 4 different hubs, each with different races/species and with their own history. Neatly done. For once in a brothel management game, you're not just trapped in one piece of land whoring out shelves of ladies.
I wont spoil this game's plot here, but suffice to say this game's plot is well written and thoroughly deserving of that 'adult' game status.
Gameplay
The best description of this game is pseudo-pokemon. Except your pokemon are slaves of various races/species, and you can quite literally fuck their brains out. Capturing your slaves follows a fairly predictable plan, like pokemon - knock them out, tie them up, and then they're yours.
Except, in pokemon, it is established that once they are captured in a pokeball they're pretty much subservient to your wants. Your apparent prowess of beating gym leaders appeal to these creatures for some reason. In this game however, your newly captured slave is (as most would) predictably not very happy being your slave and will not obey your orders. So you break them, physically and mentally until they are. God, imagine needing to do the same in pokemon. Yes, there is rape in this game, and yes it does have gameplay significance.
Your slaves can then be trained for battle, and grinding xp is as tedious as it sounds. You beat lots of zubats for xp, like pokemon. There's no overpowered skill here; its plain grind. Its entirely possible to have a core group of ladies who are ugly as fuck but because they kill things efficiently, they're more valuable than your pretty elf princess in her skimpy negligee.
So how does the sex hold up? Well...pretty bad. The reason why I caveat this at the beginning is simply because the core H game here is text, no images. No drag, no VA, not even a disgusting ahegao picture, just text and you clicking. There are a few scripted characters where there's AN image of sex while the text screen bleats at you, but on the whole its 99% sexting, 1% image.
In short, if youre going in here thinking of brothel king, you're likely going to be disappointed.
Emotional Progression
And yet, despite its subpar H gameplay, this game makes me feel more for the girls than brothel king ever did. Having spent so much time with them, grooming them and fighting off wolves and bears, whenever I do have sex with them (you literally need to, because this is the only way to get mana) it actually makes me feel something in my stony heart. Considering that its 100% text, that's saying something.
This goes even further because the scripted characters (with plot significance) all have various quests, and you can eventually recruit them to your cause (in some cases as your slave). Since these girls actually have a personality expressed via their plotlines, they feel more fleshed out and consequently more meaningful than a simple whore. I havent even had sex with Emily yet, because I sincerely wanted it to be special (dont judge me).
For what its worth, it is possible to have favorites in midst of a sea of ladies in this game. And for that reason this game earns a massive thumbs up from me.
Conclusion
I'd have to recommend this, but only to players looking for a game with more meaning to their H than the standard. This is not a game if you're looking for a quick fix, even experienced players would need at least 10 hours and for beginners its likely double that to finish the game.
Had this game have a more fleshed out H gameplay, it might actually be the best management H game Ive played in many, many years, and I can't imagine anything even close. But much like the many H management games out there, they all come with issues of their own, preventing them from reaching the top. And this one, bizarrely, is its barebone H gameplay.
Still, if you have some extra cash, I'd happily recommend that you support this game. Just remember to download that art pack for more added fun, or the scripted characters would be the only girls you'll be seeing.
What's really nice, is to find a porn game that actually remembers that it's supposed to be a game.
Story isn't much to speak of, but it teaches you how to play. It's a primarily a text-based game so expect to do a lot of reading. If you want portraits for your slaves you'll need to download an art pack, and the ones in OP's post are pretty good.
Surprisingly, there's actually a pretty decent modding scene for this game which you can find on its itch.io forums. I highly recommend playing with 'Aric's Expansion Rebred' by AricTriton. Even if you just want the vanilla experience, I still think you should at least get the unofficial patch, 'Bugfix for 1.0d - V6b' by ankmairdor. The unofficial patch is needed for Aric's Expansion too so it's handy to have it already in place if you do decide to go down that route (Just don't try to use your old saves).
Installing mods isn't too difficult. It's the usual fare. Extract the files into the game's AppData folder. (Y'know, near where you'd install minecraft mods) After that just enable them in the Mods menu in-game. There's full guide to modding on the game's wiki which goes through every detail of the process.
Oh yeah, this game has a wiki for too. It covers everything and there's a guide to help you though the game if you need it.
My only criticisms of the game are that it does need the mods and the art pack to feel complete. The game is kinda unpolished without them and the new systems in Aric's Expansion are baller. There's not much in the way of end-game content either so when you complete the last dungeon you're done.
Despite this, game of the year, "10/10 - IGN", play it now, you won't regret it. I should also mention there's a sequel in development, with regular posts to dev's patreon. It's shaping up nicely.
But anyway, download the game, download the art pack, download the mods, enjoy.
1. From what I've heard of the story mode, I've avoided it, and simply stuck to sandbox mode.
2. Since this game is primarily built around slavery, I've only used the slaver class.
3. I'm rather comfortable with coding, so I've edited game files to adjust gameplay to my liking.
4. I always have my base of operations in Wimborn, as a lot of things are there, as well as a lot of jobs.
5. Make sure to save. I've encountered strange bugs from time to time, not that often, but it is something to keep in mind.
All that being said, this has been a very fun game. Keep in mind that it is a slavery management game with some porn elements thrown in, and a vast majority of the sex scenes are entirely text-based. So the reason I enjoy it so much is because of the actual gameplay.
In sandbox mode, there are several ways of getting slaves, whether it is capturing bandits in battle, buying slaves in slave markets, or capturing strangers you come across. There are many ways to control your slaves, there are many ways to make money from your slaves, from using them as laborers, entertainers, escorts, etc. and there are things you have to consider, such as your female slaves getting pregnant (which can be dealt with in several ways).
If you get your slaves loyal enough, you can even form a small party to go capture more slaves or even fight monsters and find treasure. There are even special NPCs that will willingly become your slaves if you help them in their particular quests and treat them well enough (some are somewhat time-sensitive, so you might want to look up how to best complete them).
There are a LOT of gameplay options, and I haven't covered all of them (sex to get mana, alchemy to make potions, laboratory to improve yourself and your slaves, farms to milk your slaves for either food or profit, and more), and it can be overwhelming at first. However, it is practical enough that it doesn't get in its own way too much. I recommend taking it slowly, and getting a good guide (I like the one at https://strive4power.fandom.com/wiki/Strive4power_Wiki). You pick up a lot of things on the way, and you can find a lot of useful information on this thread (you can also ask if you aren't able to find the answer already shown here or the wiki I mentioned).
This is definitely a game you get for the gameplay and the strategy, so if you like RPG games with a lot of options for slave management, you should probably give this game a try.
The game itself is good, though a bit complex and clearly not easy to go blind into with a lot of mechanics. It requires your imagination (mostly text-based) or image packs as there's not a lot of different CGs and there's no animations either.
The game truly starts to shine through the mods system, where community members have been able to significantly modify/improve the game. With the mods, it seems like the current best text-based (complex) management game imho. See their official forum for info.
A slave/brothel; management game set in a fantasy world. The art is good, the writing is decent, but the gameplay is just too goddamn difficult. I died a lot before I threw in the towel. I'd say check it out if you are interested in a game with more complex systems that's fairly hard to figure out.
The game has some nice ideas and mechanics. As it is text-based, it will offer you more choices than other games can. It has a nice, short main story that will keep you busy for a while. I absolutely recommend it if you are into text-based games.
This game is impressively done in a highly customized game engine (it uses GODOT and had to build a lot of their own systems rather than just plug and play). You can tell that a lot of work went into it… which is unfortunate because the gameplay is terrible. This is one of those brothel / slave trainer sims… except you do not have to be a cuck because whoring your slavegirls out pays less than having them do a real job. You can be a slaver… but you actually lose money trying to do that because you must carry heavy and expensive rope to capture slaves and there is 50% chance of losing your expensive rope when you get back to town and autosell all captured slaves. (edit: actually X*20% chance to break. with X being number of times that specific rope was used.)
The plot is decent enough. It really helps to consult the wiki.
Anyways, combat magic is shit and completely nonviable. you want everyone to be warriors, the only spell you ever want to cast in combat is healing spell. And even then it should be a rarity. Focus all stat points on dex, dex is completely broken stat in combat. Once dex is maxed start spreading out to other stats.
Most early and midgame cash you will make is by being a contractor slave "trainer" who fulfils easy and medium special slave training missions with purchased slaves. you ignore most special orders until you find one easily done, take it, buy a suitable slave in one of the guilds you can teleport to and then instantly finish it without doing any actual work.
To upgrade your mansion you need money and resource points. The only effective way to make resource points is to fulfil special training missions from the slavers guild. This is an artificial "mechanic" meant to force you to actually train slaves, except it fails at doing so.
Simping is bad, you should not be abusive but you should not white knight either.
Innocent urchin girl recruited? raping her is really bad and will be heavily penalized by the game. White knight and you will just fail as she leaves you.
But you can stealthily dose her with an aphrodisiac and absolutely should to jumpstart your relationship and ensure she decides to stay with you when her sister comes to save her. If you have locked her down well you can let her go with her sister back for a few days so she can calm her sister and she will return to you as your happy and loyal voluntary slavegirl.
This is extra important because your starting slave is not in a sexual relationship with you and you must have at least 1 slave in a sexual relationship to farm mana.
saving a cute little gnome girl from a rape monster? she is now super horney from the aphrodesiac? fuck her hard and deep, any other choice will get suboptimal results.
You are a slaver not a hero of justice and being a simp will be punished by the game. Although being unnecessarily cruel will also be punished.
Generating mana is super tedious because you do it via sex and sex is extremely tedious in this game.
Some races when fucked will produce both mana and Essence, which is used as magical crafting ingredient. I think it is maybe ~50% chance? whenever you fuck a girl of the appropriate species:
Fairy = Magical Essence
Dragon = Magical Essence
Demon = Tainted Essence & half cost laboratory.
Dryad = Nature Essence
Beastkin (any) = Bestial Essence
economy is fucked:
make your slaves get a real job (research assistant) = 2nd best way to make money
whore your slaves = pays less than sending them to work a real job
hunt slaves = you literally lose money
train slaves = extremely unprofitable
true method = travel around once to unlock quick travel to all the slaving guilds. Take easy and medium difficulty slave training contracts then use quick travel to buy a suitable slave to immediately fulfill the contract. This pays the most money, can be done immediately, is the least effort, and even provides you with resource points.
The actual waifus are cute. the game has about 20 girls with a picture in it and countless literally faceless NPCs. The game crowdsources the actual art to the players. The art packs are the result of said crowdsourcing... they are stolen random furry art ripped from various sources compiled by players which give actual faces to the various nameless NPCs. Needless to say it is utter shit, do not use an art pack. For one thing having an art pack will mean that you won't be able to identify real characters at a glance. Without an art pack I can immediately tell who is a literally faceless NPC and who is a person
Play through it once if you have the spare time. Temper your expecations
Oh one small correction. I said to only go after the named waifu characters, but you should infact keep 1 faceless NPC you are unattached to and primarily farm mana and essence from her so that she is the slave you have had the most sex with in the game.
You know, I'm extremely partial to management games. I don't, there's just something about small incremental progress that gets me going.
Story 6/10
Your uncle dies and you come to the city to inherit his mansion and his position in the mage's order. What is the mage's order? Good question. There's a surprising amount of lore in this game. It's not extremely deep, but enough that you know a lot of effort went into the story. There's a reason why slaves are everywhere and why individuals sell themselves into slavery.
Back on track, you quest through the mage's order advancing your mage rank and visiting the various cities in the game. You meet semi-interesting characters along the way but the story lacks a certain depth.
Don't want to spoil the ending but the ending comes with an... interesting choice. It essentially boils down to, gain a new slave or lose your favorite slave.
Gameplay 8/10
Management is fun. It's my jam. There's a lot of manage in this game, but also not a lot at all. The reason I say that is because the part which I would find interesting is not difficult at all. Even the most rebellious slave can be trained into full loyalty and full obedience within 2-3 days.
However, combat is the main substance of this game. You can train your slaves to go into combat with you and that does take an extremely long period of time.
I would have preferred if the obedience/loyalty grind took longer really because 2-3 days is just unrealistic.
Oh yeah, and there's pregnancy in this game. And after your slave gives birth, if you have a nursery, you have the option to send the baby off to be raised in another dimension and come back fully grown. So yeah, I definitely made an extremely long chain of mother/sisters.
Art 3/10
With management games, the art is almost always secondary focus. This game even needed an art pack to make it somewhat viewable. There are main/side characters who do have original art but both the scenes and art are sparse.
But the art isn't why you play a management game.
Overall 7/10
I know the numbers don't quite add up. Dun worry about it. This game is 4 stars out of 5 for the sheer quality. I had fun and that's what matters.
A pretty wholesome game that really feels fun. It could have had so much more potential, and stuff added into it. Luckly there is now a sequal and i can only hope more mechanics will be added into it! (oddly enough, the sex part was the most boring part inn this one)
honestly the best management game, the only letdown is combat is lacking. but managing slaves and breeding them is very addicting but i would recommend modding it. ralphs mod adds more into the breeding and extends the farm
An incredibly addicting game that has changed my opinion of text based games. This one has the perfect balance between imagery and text.
The management aspects are awesome but it requires a tiny bit too much micromanagement. If you play like me you might not finish a turn for hours. The combat does the job adequately but it's pretty basic, although there are interesting places to explore, nice loot to find and most importantly rare slaves to catch. The sex scenes are in text and they are pretty nice but there could be more variety and responses to some activities. The good thing is you can act as dominant or submissive as you like.
The game has much room for quality of life improvements, bugfixes and general polish but it has something that trumps those issues and that is mod compatibility.
The mods elevate the game a great deal especially with the customizability they offer. For example there are countless portraits which you can spend hours upon hours, if you so desire, to add for all races, genders and ages. Not that the art of the game is bad, it's actually fantastic but you are going to need a ton of variety. Even the biggest portrait packs where inadequate for me so i just found my own pics to include and it's really exciting to explore and find creatures with the amazing art that you added according to your tastes.
The version of the game here is outdated. There is a 1.0d version and in my opinion the bare minimum you need to play the game close to its true potential is to apply the v3 bugfix mod as well as the expanded sex mod to that version. I do recommend the chastity belt mod as well if you want to be a slave yourself to one of your servants.
I can't give this more than 3/5.
It's true that this is technically a completed game, but it just barely reaches that status. There is a lot of content that needs polishing, there is a lot that can be added, and there is much that could use some adjusting.
Strive for Power is quite fun, I spent a couple of days messing around with it, but to think that it will not receive any further updates is pretty baffling.
I don't know much about this supposed sequel or what ever it's supposed to be, but I think abandoning this one was a mistake.
Fun gameplay! Combat is simple but fun, and I enjoyed assembling the best crew possible. Can even be played like a "breeder" game if you turn down the pregnancy duration.
Fairly well balanced, characters have intriguing stories, no major gameplay holes.
Probably the best brothel game out right now. Has tons of unique characters and cg, also with a great battle system. There are many quests to do, and you can collect rare items, brew potions, and even start a "cattle farm." Easily can put days into this game without getting bored.
