Nathan CrauseMusings of a Software Developer

Any office worker will tell you that sometimes the tedium of "cubicle life" makes the days drag on for what seems like eternity. Often, staff will break protocol and download and install little games onto their workstations (if strict security isn't enforced, as is surprisingly common), but this open a whole new can of problems - trojans and spyware developers are notorious for luring unsuspecting users in with the promise of entertainment.

So what is a bored office worker to do?

Now, I'm not condoning playing games instead of working, but let's face it, sometimes you really do just need something to do. In-steps the web-based games to the rescue!

I love these things - they're simple, quick to play, no real need for long-time term commitments like traditional MMORPG's (I can't even count how many hours have been lost to World of Warcraft). And best of all, they're usually free.

I recently was lucky enough to try out a new free online RPG called Algadon. If you need a time-pit, I actually strongly recommend it.

Like most traditional RPG's, the game is made up of upgrading your gear, questing, and a bit of PvP. However, the game seems specifically designed to provide the basics of an RPG without the necessity for your complete attention. Questing is done simply by accessing a list of quests, making sure you meet the requirements, and selecting "Do Quest".

To the "hard-core" gamer, this might seem rather dull - but the goal is different, I think. I've spent days on a single quest in many MMORPG's - that's not feasible for time-constrained individuals. "Real-time" combat wouldn't work very well if my boss walks in and I need to switch to a spreadsheet.

On to some specifics about the game. I found the graphics to actually be quite good (graphics being pictures of what you are interacting with, and not models/sprites as with regular RPG's). The images are clear, but not overly complex or huge, so response times in the game are actually quite good.

The interface is simple, and self explanatory. If you want to buy something, go to the "Shops" link. There's no spending hours running around a foreign environment trying to locate everything. Again, this seems intended for quick, simple game-play.

There are really only 2 oddities with the game:

1. the creators seem to have merged the concepts of "race" and "class" into a single "race" category. As such, you have the quirk that a "merchant" is considered a completely different race to a "dwarf" (no dwarven merchants, I guess). I think this can, once more, be attributed to simplicity - juggling statistics of a race with attributes of a race might prove  little cumbersome for the casual gamer to have to wrestle with.
2. there's always the question of the creators making money from their effort. Thankfully, this game hasn't opted for ads, but have instead gone with offering additional services at a cost:
   1. premium access - provides additional "races", weapons, foods, potions
   2. royal credits - this is an additional "currency" within the game (aside from the traditional gold from questing and such), but you can get them only by purchasing them.

All in all, I intend to keep plugging away at the game. It's only in Beta and always shows some good promise. And it's free, so what's to lose? I recommend this game to anyone who needs a small hole into which to discard excess time.