HTML MMORPG Roundup

I've been goofing around with some of the HTML MMORPGs lately and figured I'd drop a review.

My first reaction was sort of "meh" in terms of the visual impression, but the concept is so cool I had to try it out. Basically I was curious how the developers dealt with the constraints of such a system.

It turns out some of the games are not only fascinating in a game theory kind of way, they're also fairly addictive. And most importantly, they don't take up much time since they're relatively simple and based on "action points" which are doled out per-hour. So here's my review of the games I've tried, in no particular order.

Nexus War

Mortals, angels and demons set in a modern era. A rich array of skills, items, and other game elements. Nexus War is a relatively expansive game and may be truly sustainable. I would suggest playing one of the simpler games first to get your groks on.

Urban Dead

Zombies vs. Humans. Lots of smashing, bashing, horde fighting fun. This is the one that got me hooked. Zeds are currently overrunning Malton and I'm curious to see what the developers do to keep the game sustainable.

Shartak

After playing in the dark demonic themes of the other games, Shartak is a refreshing experiment. Colonists, pirates and natives battle for control of an island.

Gothador

I just started playing Gothador, but it looks promising. Certainly the visual presentation is impressive. Kind of a gothic/medieval/demonic/vampiric world. It appears players are encouraged if not mandated to support the site monetarily to play advanced levels.

Kingdom of Loathing

KOL is clever, absurd and super-geeky. All of which I like, but the "quest" focus is not my cup of tea. A King's Quest and Myst fan I was not. KOL's game mechanics are probably the easiest of the bunch to understand for the uninitiated, though.

Vampires! The Dark Alleyway

From what I've seen, Vampires is the code base for some of the other games, which have improved upon the game mechanics significantly. This is a good starter game since the rules and strategy are simple.