Kingdom of Loathing

"I came, I saw, I XD'd..."

Kingdom of Loathing, a free online game, is...special. That is to say, it's special in it's own special way. Sometimes, however, special is good. Such as in this case. Very, very, good, indeed.

Story: 8/10

The Kingdom of Loathing is a place where people could loathe each other in peace. Everyone loathed each other, and were simply okay with that. That is, until one day, when a sorceress, an extremely naughty sorceress, decided to take over the kingdom, and threw the king of loathing in jail. Now, of course, everyone loathes the sorceress. You, brave adventurer, are going on a quest to defeat her, weather you like it or not!

I admit, it's not original. But...It is funny, if you think about it.

Graphics: 7/10

If you like stick figures, crazy names, and bad drawings of houses and the like, then you'll love this game's graphics. Stick figures and bad drawings galore line almost every part of the game. I love it, as I draw like that. It gives this game a sort of strange, childish look. Considering the premise, it's acceptable.

Gameplay: 9/10

This is where it gets interesting! After picking one out of six classes (with funny names, even) You'll be thrown into the game. You start with some "adventures", which is how you play. Every time you explore an area outside the town, you'll most likely spend Adventure points. You gain adventure points by eating food and, get this, booze. Of course, there's a limit to the amount of booze and food you can eat/drink. Drink too much booze, and you won't be able to spend your hard-earned Adventures correctly. Eat too much, and you can't eat any more. Every night, the game begins a new day, so to speak, and you gain around 40 new, shiny Adventures to throw away!

Combat is turn-based, kinda. If, while you spend those Adventures adventuring, you encounter an enemy, you will take turns beating each other up. Win, and you get sub stats, to gain more regular stats. Lose, and you'll have to spend some Adventures resting. To get stronger, you have to level up. This is done by raising one of your three stats, Muscle (to raise attack power), Mysticality (increase the damage/healing of spells), and Moxie (evading and chance for a first strike). Depending on your class, you have to raise one of those three a lot to level up.

Communication with other players: 10/10

Wow. This might just be the heart of the Kingdom. KOL has many different chat channels to talk to other players, there's PvP (if you're into that sort of thing), there's clans, you can private massage someone and give them gifts, there's even a KoL radio show, with DJs who are actual users! It has it's own chat channel, so you can make requests! KoL even has forums!

Final Verdict:

If you're into crazy names, stick figures, a bit of leet speak every now and then, and communicating with other players, then the Kingdom of Loathing is the kingdom for you! After all, "An Adventurer is You!"

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/05/05