What is a text-based RPG?
Text-based games have been around on the internet since the ’70s. They mostly come with a role-playing element that allows you to play a pre-made character or create one. Through this, you can immerse yourself into the story of the game.
Difference to traditional video games
The main difference from traditional video games is that, as the name implies, much of the action relies on activities that are written. These are also aided with interactive images that allow you to see the appearance of your enemy, the weapons that you use, and the map of the game’s universe.
(Image Credit: Kanoplay)
While it does not have many photorealistic graphics that can reach 60 frame rates per second for movie-like cutscenes, these games can still have the same excitement as traditional video games. This is because the pace of these games is continuous, allowing you to receive updates every minute, hour, and day.
What do you do in text-based RPGs?
Make your character stronger
In these games, your main goal is to make your character stronger. These games give your character a set of attributes such as attack, defense, stamina, and more. You can then decide which aspects of the character you will increase. You can choose to have a generalist jack-of-all-trades character that excels in a lot of fields but also one that has a specialty that makes them stand out in certain aspects but become weak in select ones.
Some games also assign different classes for characters. Through this, you can already have specialties such as being a warlock that specializes in magic, a knight that has high defense points, and more.
Battle with bosses
After building up your character’s strengths, you can then be ready to fight bosses. These are the monsters that inhabit the text-based game’s universe. For example, in a game featuring Viking mythology, you will be able to fight wolves, dragons, and the likes. Being able to defeat them will result in a bounty. The bounties get bigger when the monster has a higher level and if they are harder to defeat.
Some games also have a system that causes these bosses to respawn after a set amount of time. Through this, you can have time to prepare before you do another battle with them.
Create factions
One of the best parts about these games is having access to millions of other players online. Because of this, you can create factions along with other people. These factions can then battle bosses and other factions together. Through this, you can have other members that can fill in for the parts where you are weak at. After all, the best faction is those that is well-rounded, with some being for offense and some for defense. Through battles with clans, you can have better rewards and experience points which you can then use to further make your character stronger.
Is it hard to learn?
One of the things that discourages some from playing text-based games is the terminologies that are attached to it that may be hard to learn for newer players. The good news is that this complexity is no longer seen in most RPG games nowadays. These are now created to be played by both amateur and long-time players of these games.
This is made possible with the use of user-friendly beginning levels and gameplay guides. Through this, you can first become familiar with the mechanics of the game before fully immersing yourself in the action.
Do I need to pay for text-based RPGs?
Many text-based RPGs are completely free to play. You simply need to create an account and then start playing the game. Because of this, almost anyone with a computer, mobile phone, tablet, and internet connection can start playing these games.
Those who want to progress faster in the game and be able to purchase premium weapons and gear can pay for this. This is not necessary, however, as players can still play the game without spending a single dollar if they want to play it like normal. This convenience makes text-based RPGs very easy to start playing.
Conclusion
Text-based RPGs immerse you in a fantasy world such as one where medieval knights, pirates, gangsters, and zombies can be battled with. These games can be played on various platforms like phones, tablets, and computers. These are just as interesting and fast-paced as traditional video games because of their quickly updated mechanics, the number of bosses to battle, and the process of making your character stronger.