An Introduction to Text-Based Browser Games
Thursday, January 13th, 2011You have heard about text based rpg games, but you want to know a bit more. Continue reading to discover the history, attraction and how text-based web games continue to rule and have evolved over the years.
Long before the average PC had any sort of graphical capabilities, text based mmorpg games were played on university LANs over super slow dial-up connections. Commonly known as MUDs (multi-user dungeons), many of these text-based web games have been altered for play over the Internet via a MUD client, or most recently, a web browser.
A poor internet connection has very little affect on game play, and they can handle huge numbers of concurrent users, often referred to as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG). This is largely due to the fact that most text based RPGs have little or no graphics.
Another advantage to text based rpg games is that they have much lower system requirements than graphical games, enabling them to be played on pretty much any computer connected to the Internet. People are now playing them on modern handheld devices and mobile phones.
Every text based browser game worth its salt will have the power to build a character, increase their status, equipment, weaponary, trade items etc, and complete tasks in the game. With a huge number of new games popping-up over recent years, competition is stiff, players expectations are generally higher and building a successful text-based web game requires time, effort, regular feature updates and lots of caffeine. The best text MMORPGs are hugely addictive and retain loyal players for months, and sometimes, years.
Facebook observed the attraction in text-based mmorpg games and has recently launched Mafia Wars, Farmville and Frontierville, produced by Zynga. Although much more graphical than traditional text based rpg games, under the bonnet, they are almost identical to the majority of other text based mmorpg games.
Torn City is a hugely popular text based MMORPG which has been live for over 6 years. A great place to start experimenting with text based browser games.