Thank you Andrew G. Schneider for providing us with a review code!

Robin Hood is a fabled outlaw whose origins date back to the 13th century. While usually depicted as a male, Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood, allows you to play the legendary thief as a female. In this game you get to take full control of Robin Hood’s journey and every decision you make can impact your renown, political power, gold, number of Merry Men, and potential infamy. Many of the characters in this story are present and able to be romanced.

Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood begins with the Sheriff of Nottingham chasing Robin of Locksley out of their house. Right off the bat, the player must make decisions on how they plan on leaving their estate. Do they sneak out quietly or go out with a bang? No matter how they escape, Robin’s destination is the Sherwood forest where they will soon be introduced to Maid Marian. Her father has been imprisoned and she fled to the forest for her safety along with her ladies-in-waiting. Marian would prefer to marry for love instead of the forced marriage that the Sheriff of Nottingham has in mind for her.

Marian and her crew offer to aide Robin in their revolt against the sheriff. They’ll have to devise ways to hide their tracks and to keep his deadly hounds off of their trail. Robin Hood and their Merry Men will need to set up and secure a base of operations and win humans and non-humans alike to their side. Robin can befriend wolves, ogres, dragons, and wisps to join their cause.

Alliances between the church, nobles, fae, and peasants are necessary to counterattack the schemes of the Sherriff of Nottingham. Alliances can be formed by performing favors (spending power) and using the influence gained from them to strengthen relationships by completing quests. Time passes as you finish quests and the story progresses as the seasons change. With each season, the Sheriff of Nottingham changes his tactics for attacking the status of Robin Hood and the Merry Men (and women!).

Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood plays like a visual novel, but has the addition of resource management that limits your choices and shapes the story based on your decisions. You’ll get renown for your successful feats and in the tavern you can have the renown exchanged to manpower by having the bard sing songs about your adventures. Alternatively, you can exchange renown for gold by exercising your influence among the nobles. Gold is necessary for winning over peasants (take from the rich and give to the poor), and is also necessary for expanding your base of operations. Manpower is needed for securing the forest and fighting off the sheriff’s army. Gathering men is one thing, but to do well, you’ll need to have sufficient facilities, training, and weapons at their disposal.

I was able to see an ending in roughly eight hours. There is plenty of replay-ability by making different strategic choices or by pursuing different love interests. Same sex relationships are possible. During my playthrough, Marian expressed interest in the female Robin Hood I was playing as. I was also in a politically motivated marriage that was a sham since the guy was homosexual. The groom and I spent our wedding night conversing. In a side quest it’s discovered that a vassal was upset with his lord for sleeping with his wife (right of the lord) on his wedding night before him.

Greek mythology influences some of the characters in the game and there are references to their gods. Druids live near the forest and Robin has the option to leave sacrifices to their gods. Catholics will appreciate the option to pray at a shrine dedicated to Mary.

In your base you can drink and gamble with your men at the tavern. There are some references to drunkenness. Witches and magic use are part of the story. Violence is described in detail, but not shown due to the visual style of the game.

The graphics are simple but effective in Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood. The characters talking are represented as silhouettes on each side of the screen. The text is well written and my mind was able to visualize everything described.

There is no voice acting, but the background music is very pleasant to listen to. The soundtrack is available for purchase on Steam for $9.99. If bought together with the game, you’ll get a 20% discount for a grand total of $23.98.

Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood is enjoyable and I like the twist of having resource management paired with an interesting story. I was disappointed with the romance options that seemed shoe horned in. I’m not a fan of the LGBTQ characters that were not part of the original tales. With that said, I look forward to checking out future games by Andrew G. Schneider.