Kingdom of Loathing
Encyclopedia
Kingdom of Loathing is a browser-based
, multiplayer role-playing game
designed and operated by Asymmetric Publications
, including creator Zack "Jick" Johnson and writer Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite. The game was released in 2003. Because content is added frequently, the game is considered unfinished and officially remains in open beta.
It uses hand-drawn stick figure
graphics and writing characterized by surreal humor
, word play
, parody
and references to popular culture
. In KoL, a player's character fights monsters for experience, meat
(the game's currency
), and items, through a turn-based system. Players may also interact with each other through player versus player
competition, participate in the in-game economy
by trading goods and services
, organize their characters into clans, work together to complete clan dungeons
, and speak to each other in many different chat
channels.
In 2008, the game had between 100,000 and 150,000 regular players. It is also particularly notable for managing to be financially successful purely from donations and the purchase of virtual goods rather than from advertising
or subscription fees
, which are used by many online game
s.
, and accumulating items and meat.
In KoLs turn-based gameplay, a player's character is supplied with a number of adventures each day. The game day resets at a time called "rollover". Characters are allotted forty adventures every rollover, though they can increase that number with various equipment and items. Additional adventures can be acquired by consuming food
and booze
.However, only a limited amount of each can be consumed each day, and drinking too much booze puts the character into a drunken stupor for the remainder of the day. During rollover, drunkenness and fullness are reset to zero, and minor amounts of health points
and magic points
are restored. Although a character can accumulate a large number of adventures, the number is reduced to 200 at rollover.
Many actions require a certain number of adventures (usually one) to execute. These actions can range from cooking food to combat. Combat against a monster takes one adventure and is turn-based, allowing the character to use attacks, skills, or items each round.
Puzzle-solving is an important part of the game, with the solutions often involving a certain item combination or the completion of tasks in different zones.
By defeating monsters, players can acquire pieces of meat, the game's currency. Meat can be used to buy potions, armor, items for quests, and other useful objects. Characters can combine items by using "meat paste" (a substance analogous to glue), and can also cook food
, mix cocktail
s and smith weapon
s and armor
. Characters may earn trophies or tattoos for various in-game achievements.
content is largely single-player, there are other features based upon multiplayer interaction.
Player versus player (PvP) combat is voluntary, and features a series of stat comparisons and a randomized selection of non-interactive minigame
s. These tests, which range from a "Work Ethic Contest" to "Wine Tasting" or even "Balanced Diet," compare sometimes obscure statistics of the two competitors' characters. The winner of the PvP battle can take rank, stats, or sometimes even meat and items from the loser.
The game features an integrated chat system which is available only after completing a basic test of English grammar
and spelling
. There are many chat channels, including a channel in which all chat must follow the syllabic conventions of English haiku
. Most of the chat channels are moderated; those who violate the chat rules are banned. Players can also send messages and gift packages to each other in-game, and the official Kingdom of Loathing forums are another active venue for discussion among players.
Upon reaching level 3, characters may join a clan. Clans are bands of cooperating characters. A clan has a clan hall which can be furnished with beneficial equipment, and a clan stash for sharing useful items. Clan members can chat with each other in a clan-specific chat channel.
In 2008, a multiplayer dungeon
was added which allows clan members to raid
cooperatively in Hobopolis, the underground city of hobo
s. Eurogamer
likened Hobopolis to World of Warcraft instances.
Players can buy a store in The Mall
of Loathing and sell their character's items to other players. Direct trading between two players is also possible, and in the trade chat channel users can auction items and advertise shops.
This functionality has created a complex in-game economy which author Ted Friedman, in his book Electric dreams: computers in American culture, described as "vibrant." The Kingdom of Loathing economy was the subject of an academic study, Economics in the Kingdom of Loathing: Analysis of Virtual Market Data in 2011.
when they create a character. Each class has various items that characters obtain by completing class-specific quests. Characters also receive non-tradable class-dependent items as a reward for completing harder ascensions. The classes can be split into groups based on the primary character attribute associated with them.
Muscle classes: The two muscle classes are Seal Clubber and Turtle Tamer. Muscle classes depend on strength and fighting ability.
Mysticality classes: The mysticality classes are Pastamancer and Sauceror. Gameplay for mysticailty classes is focused on spellcasting and the use of magic.
Moxie classes: The moxie classes, Disco Bandit and Accordian Thief, use charm and dexterity to achieve success.
are creatures that can accompany players in combat, performing (usually) helpful actions. Some familiars are instrumental in the completion of quests.
Familiars possess many abilities. For example, a Sabre-Toothed Lime attacks monsters, a Leprechaun
grants extra meat after combat, and a Hovering Sombrero
increases stat gains from combat. Some familiars, such as the Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot, are very difficult to acquire.
feature. This feature becomes available after the game's final quest is completed. Players who ascend have their character's experience
levels reset to zero, but they retain their currency and items.
Ascending players can also choose to make their ascension more difficult by taking on various restrictions, such as not being able to eat or drink, in exchange for special rewards. In addition, the game features a leaderboard system which allows players to see one another's ascension speeds and compete for the fastest ascensions.
-based kingdom. The game is humorous in nature, and most quests, battles and individual item descriptions include joke
s, witticisms
, or references to popular culture.
The premise is that the Naughty Sorceress has captured and "imprismed" (imprisoned in a prism) the Kingdom's ruler, King
Ralph XI. The ultimate objective of the game is to defeat the Naughty Sorceress and free King Ralph.
In King Ralph's absence, most of the power in the Kingdom of Loathing is held by the Council of Loathing, which gives quests to characters as they increase in level
, with the final quest given when the character has reached level 13 and finished the other quests. Players can also unlock quests from other sources, some of which are available only after ascending.
In the game's early days, Johnson would work on the game during breaks while at work, but eighteen months or so after launch, the game was bringing in enough money for Johnson to quit his day job as a programmer and work on the game full-time. He then began to pay Nite for his work and after approximately two years hired two more developers. There are currently eight full-time employees working on Kingdom of Loathing, as well as three other employees who are working on a separate game.
The game's creative process is fluid and loosely structured. According to Johnson, "At this point, I provide the overall direction. I do about a quarter of the writing, a quarter of the coding, and almost all of the artwork." The bulk of the writing is done by Nite, who also contributes design ideas,, while two other developers, known in the game as Riff and HotStuff, work on writing, design, and coding.
According to Nite, the game's writing style owes itself to a humorous email exchange between himself and Johnson that began when the two separated after high school. These emails "helped us develop the shared comedic voice that KoLs written in." The game's developers cite text-based games such as Zork
and Legend of the Red Dragon
as creative influences, and Nite has compared the game to the Choose Your Own Adventure
series of children's books.
The game has been in open beta
since its initial release, and is continuously being worked on. New content is released weekly or monthly, and there is also unique holiday-themed content every Christmas, known as Crimbo. Occasionally, the developers stage world events such as the Gray Plague, a virtual plague which was spread from player to player and caused chat text to appear gray. This was similar to the Corrupted Blood incident
in World of Warcraft
.
, and by donation
s. Players who donate $10 USD
to the game receive a powerful item known as a Mr. Accessory. Mr. Accessories can be equipped to give stat boosts or spent in the "Mr. Store" to buy powerful items (including special monthly items). Mr. Accessories and Mr. Store items may be traded freely between players. According to an interview with Zach Johnson from 2010, Johnson originally established the Mr. Accessory revenue model as "kind of an afterthought", but it became lucrative enough to allow him to work on the game full-time and eventually to hire several permanent employees.
which offers puzzle solutions and walkthroughs. Longtime player and nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot
is active in the community and included a Kingdom of Loathing-themed song on his 2010 album Zero Day
.
Brett Bixler, manager of the Educational Gaming Commons at Pennsylvania State University
, has hypothesized that the Kingdom of Loathing community is successful because it accounts for Richard Bartle
's model
of player personality types in massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, creating a balanced gameplay system that appeals to a wide variety of players. Researcher Martin Oliver addressed similar issues in a 2009 study of the Kingdom of Loathing player community, Playing Roles in the MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing
-based SHOUTcast
radio station, Radio KoL, is the "official unofficial" radio station of KoL. It is a 24/7
DJ
-hosted station, with volunteer DJs drawn from the KoL user base. Twice weekly, development team members host shows on Radio KoL in which they discuss the state of the game and answer questions from players.
called it "a 'must play' game for RPG fans who want something different," and OnRPG said that "it has been very hard to find any faults in Kingdom of Loathing". The graphics have had mixed reception with some reviewers praising the decision to focus only on gameplay but others deriding them as "functional, but nothing more". The player community has also received praise for being welcoming and rarely using Internet slang
, unlike other online games.
Reviewer Jon Hamblin has noted the influence of Kingdom of Loathing on other games such as Twilight Heroes
, Forumwarz
and Secret Society Wars, while Michael Walbridge of GameSetWatch said that Mafia Wars
"borrows heavily" from it.
Browser game
A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser. Browser games can be created and run using standard web technologies or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer...
, multiplayer role-playing game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
designed and operated by Asymmetric Publications
Asymmetric Publications
Asymmetric Publications is a video game developer and publisher. It is responsible for the popular web-based role-playing game Kingdom of Loathing....
, including creator Zack "Jick" Johnson and writer Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite. The game was released in 2003. Because content is added frequently, the game is considered unfinished and officially remains in open beta.
It uses hand-drawn stick figure
Stick figure
A stick figure is a very simple type of drawing made of lines and dots, often of the human form or other animals. In a stick figure, the head is represented by a circle, sometimes embellished with details such as eyes, mouth or crudely scratched-out hair. The arms, legs and torso are all...
graphics and writing characterized by surreal humor
Surreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
, word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
, parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
and references to popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. In KoL, a player's character fights monsters for experience, meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
(the game's currency
Currency
In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
), and items, through a turn-based system. Players may also interact with each other through player versus player
Player versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
competition, participate in the in-game economy
Economic system
An economic system is the combination of the various agencies, entities that provide the economic structure that defines the social community. These agencies are joined by lines of trade and exchange along which goods, money etc. are continuously flowing. An example of such a system for a closed...
by trading goods and services
Goods and services
In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility. It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax....
, organize their characters into clans, work together to complete clan dungeons
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
, and speak to each other in many different chat
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
channels.
In 2008, the game had between 100,000 and 150,000 regular players. It is also particularly notable for managing to be financially successful purely from donations and the purchase of virtual goods rather than from advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
or subscription fees
Subscription business model
The subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites....
, which are used by many online game
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
s.
Gameplay and features
Gameplay involves fighting monsters, completing quests, gaining skills and statsStatistic (role-playing games)
A statistic in role-playing games is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. That piece of data is usually a integer or, in some cases, a set of dice....
, and accumulating items and meat.
In KoLs turn-based gameplay, a player's character is supplied with a number of adventures each day. The game day resets at a time called "rollover". Characters are allotted forty adventures every rollover, though they can increase that number with various equipment and items. Additional adventures can be acquired by consuming food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
and booze
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
.However, only a limited amount of each can be consumed each day, and drinking too much booze puts the character into a drunken stupor for the remainder of the day. During rollover, drunkenness and fullness are reset to zero, and minor amounts of health points
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
and magic points
Magic point
Magic points are units of magical power that are used in many role-playing, computer role-playing and similar games as an expendable resource that is needed to pay for magic spells and other abilities, such as special attacks...
are restored. Although a character can accumulate a large number of adventures, the number is reduced to 200 at rollover.
Many actions require a certain number of adventures (usually one) to execute. These actions can range from cooking food to combat. Combat against a monster takes one adventure and is turn-based, allowing the character to use attacks, skills, or items each round.
Puzzle-solving is an important part of the game, with the solutions often involving a certain item combination or the completion of tasks in different zones.
By defeating monsters, players can acquire pieces of meat, the game's currency. Meat can be used to buy potions, armor, items for quests, and other useful objects. Characters can combine items by using "meat paste" (a substance analogous to glue), and can also cook food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, mix cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
s and smith weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s and armor
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
. Characters may earn trophies or tattoos for various in-game achievements.
Player interaction
While Kingdom of Loathings player versus environmentPlayer versus environment
Player versus environment, or PvE , is a term used in online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, and other online role-playing video games, to refer to fighting computer-controlled enemies—in contrast to PvP .Usually a PvE mode can be played either alone, with human...
content is largely single-player, there are other features based upon multiplayer interaction.
Player versus player (PvP) combat is voluntary, and features a series of stat comparisons and a randomized selection of non-interactive minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s. These tests, which range from a "Work Ethic Contest" to "Wine Tasting" or even "Balanced Diet," compare sometimes obscure statistics of the two competitors' characters. The winner of the PvP battle can take rank, stats, or sometimes even meat and items from the loser.
The game features an integrated chat system which is available only after completing a basic test of English grammar
English grammar
English grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences...
and spelling
English orthography
English orthography is the alphabetic spelling system used by the English language. English orthography, like other alphabetic orthographies, uses a set of habits to represent speech sounds in writing. In most other languages, these habits are regular enough so that they may be called rules...
. There are many chat channels, including a channel in which all chat must follow the syllabic conventions of English haiku
Haiku in English
Haiku in English is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language.Contemporary haiku are written in many languages, but most poets outside of Japan are concentrated in the English-speaking countries....
. Most of the chat channels are moderated; those who violate the chat rules are banned. Players can also send messages and gift packages to each other in-game, and the official Kingdom of Loathing forums are another active venue for discussion among players.
Upon reaching level 3, characters may join a clan. Clans are bands of cooperating characters. A clan has a clan hall which can be furnished with beneficial equipment, and a clan stash for sharing useful items. Clan members can chat with each other in a clan-specific chat channel.
In 2008, a multiplayer dungeon
Instance dungeon
In massively multiplayer online games, an instance is a special area, typically a dungeon, that generates a new copy of the location for each group, or for certain number of players, that enters the area. Instancing, the general term for the use of this technique, addresses several problems...
was added which allows clan members to raid
Raid (gaming)
A raid is a type of mission in a video game in which a very large number of people attempt to defeat a boss monster...
cooperatively in Hobopolis, the underground city of hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
s. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
likened Hobopolis to World of Warcraft instances.
Players can buy a store in The Mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
of Loathing and sell their character's items to other players. Direct trading between two players is also possible, and in the trade chat channel users can auction items and advertise shops.
This functionality has created a complex in-game economy which author Ted Friedman, in his book Electric dreams: computers in American culture, described as "vibrant." The Kingdom of Loathing economy was the subject of an academic study, Economics in the Kingdom of Loathing: Analysis of Virtual Market Data in 2011.
Character classes
Players choose from six classesCharacter class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
when they create a character. Each class has various items that characters obtain by completing class-specific quests. Characters also receive non-tradable class-dependent items as a reward for completing harder ascensions. The classes can be split into groups based on the primary character attribute associated with them.
Muscle classes: The two muscle classes are Seal Clubber and Turtle Tamer. Muscle classes depend on strength and fighting ability.
Mysticality classes: The mysticality classes are Pastamancer and Sauceror. Gameplay for mysticailty classes is focused on spellcasting and the use of magic.
Moxie classes: The moxie classes, Disco Bandit and Accordian Thief, use charm and dexterity to achieve success.
Familiars
FamiliarsFamiliar spirit
In European folklore and folk-belief of the Medieval and Early Modern periods, familiar spirits were supernatural entities believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic...
are creatures that can accompany players in combat, performing (usually) helpful actions. Some familiars are instrumental in the completion of quests.
Familiars possess many abilities. For example, a Sabre-Toothed Lime attacks monsters, a Leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
grants extra meat after combat, and a Hovering Sombrero
Sombrero
Sombrero in English refers to a type of wide-brimmed hat originating in Mexico. In Spanish, however, it is the generic word for "hat", which originates from "sombra", meaning "shade"....
increases stat gains from combat. Some familiars, such as the Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot, are very difficult to acquire.
Ascension
Ascension is a feature that allows characters to start the game over and play through it again from the beginning, similar to a New Game PlusNew Game Plus
A New Game Plus is an unlockable video game mode that allows the player to start a new game after they finish the game at least once, where certain aspects of the finished game, such as experience or items, affect the newly started game...
feature. This feature becomes available after the game's final quest is completed. Players who ascend have their character's experience
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
levels reset to zero, but they retain their currency and items.
Ascending players can also choose to make their ascension more difficult by taking on various restrictions, such as not being able to eat or drink, in exchange for special rewards. In addition, the game features a leaderboard system which allows players to see one another's ascension speeds and compete for the fastest ascensions.
Plot and setting
The player takes on the role of an adventurer who is tasked with solving problems and killing monsters in a fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
-based kingdom. The game is humorous in nature, and most quests, battles and individual item descriptions include joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
s, witticisms
Wit
Wit is a form of intellectual humour, and a wit is someone skilled in making witty remarks. Forms of wit include the quip and repartee.-Forms of wit:...
, or references to popular culture.
The premise is that the Naughty Sorceress has captured and "imprismed" (imprisoned in a prism) the Kingdom's ruler, King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
Ralph XI. The ultimate objective of the game is to defeat the Naughty Sorceress and free King Ralph.
In King Ralph's absence, most of the power in the Kingdom of Loathing is held by the Council of Loathing, which gives quests to characters as they increase in level
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
, with the final quest given when the character has reached level 13 and finished the other quests. Players can also unlock quests from other sources, some of which are available only after ascending.
Development
Zack Johnson, the game's creator, developed several games before Kingdom of Loathing but did not feel that they were good enough to release online. Deciding that he was taking the games he created too seriously, Johnson then set himself the challenge of creating one within a week and publishing the result online. The early game was considered more of a joke than a game, and the initial content including classes and even the name of the game were stream of consciousness. The game was released in early 2003, and Johnson soon invited his childhood friend Josh Nite to help with the game as a writer and designer. Within a year, 300,000 player accounts had been created, far exceeding Johnson and Nite's expectations; Johnson has referred to the game's success as "a never ending series of astonishments." In 2008, the game had between 100,000 and 150,000 regular players.In the game's early days, Johnson would work on the game during breaks while at work, but eighteen months or so after launch, the game was bringing in enough money for Johnson to quit his day job as a programmer and work on the game full-time. He then began to pay Nite for his work and after approximately two years hired two more developers. There are currently eight full-time employees working on Kingdom of Loathing, as well as three other employees who are working on a separate game.
The game's creative process is fluid and loosely structured. According to Johnson, "At this point, I provide the overall direction. I do about a quarter of the writing, a quarter of the coding, and almost all of the artwork." The bulk of the writing is done by Nite, who also contributes design ideas,, while two other developers, known in the game as Riff and HotStuff, work on writing, design, and coding.
According to Nite, the game's writing style owes itself to a humorous email exchange between himself and Johnson that began when the two separated after high school. These emails "helped us develop the shared comedic voice that KoLs written in." The game's developers cite text-based games such as Zork
Zork
Zork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. The first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 on a DEC PDP-10 computer by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, and implemented in the MDL programming language...
and Legend of the Red Dragon
Legend of the Red Dragon
Legend of the Red Dragon is a text-based online role-playing video game, released in 1989 by Robinson Technologies. LORD is one of the best known door games. The player's goal is to improve his or her skills in order to defeat the Red Dragon which has been attacking the village...
as creative influences, and Nite has compared the game to the Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...
series of children's books.
The game has been in open beta
Software development process
A software development process, also known as a software development life cycle , is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often considered a subset of systems development life cycle...
since its initial release, and is continuously being worked on. New content is released weekly or monthly, and there is also unique holiday-themed content every Christmas, known as Crimbo. Occasionally, the developers stage world events such as the Gray Plague, a virtual plague which was spread from player to player and caused chat text to appear gray. This was similar to the Corrupted Blood incident
Corrupted Blood incident
The Corrupted Blood incident is a video game glitch and virtual plague that occurred on September 13, 2005 in the MMORPG World of Warcraft...
in World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
.
Business model
Kingdom of Loathing is advertising-free and does not charge subscription fees. Maintenance and development of the game is supported by sale of associated merchandiseProduct (business)
In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
, and by donation
Donation
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...
s. Players who donate $10 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
to the game receive a powerful item known as a Mr. Accessory. Mr. Accessories can be equipped to give stat boosts or spent in the "Mr. Store" to buy powerful items (including special monthly items). Mr. Accessories and Mr. Store items may be traded freely between players. According to an interview with Zach Johnson from 2010, Johnson originally established the Mr. Accessory revenue model as "kind of an afterthought", but it became lucrative enough to allow him to work on the game full-time and eventually to hire several permanent employees.
Community
Kingdom of Loathing has been praised for its welcoming and active player community. One of the most unique aspects of the community is the large number of female players: according to Johnson, approximately 40% of players are female. Fans often gather at both official conventions, run by Asymmetric, and unofficial player-organized meet-ups, including the annual KoLumbus event. Players can communicate online through the in-game chat systems and the game's official forums, and there is also a player-run wikiWiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
which offers puzzle solutions and walkthroughs. Longtime player and nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot
MC Frontalot
Damian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo...
is active in the community and included a Kingdom of Loathing-themed song on his 2010 album Zero Day
Zero Day
Zero Day is a 2003 American film directed by Ben Coccio about a school shooting much along the lines of the Columbine High School massacre.-Plot:...
.
Brett Bixler, manager of the Educational Gaming Commons at Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
, has hypothesized that the Kingdom of Loathing community is successful because it accounts for Richard Bartle
Richard Bartle
Richard Allan Bartle is a British writer, professor and game researcher, best known for being the co-creator of MUD1 and the author of the seminal Designing Virtual Worlds. He is one of the pioneers of the massively multiplayer online game industry.-Life and career:Bartle received a Ph.D...
's model
Bartle Test
The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology is a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games into categories based on their gaming preferences. The test is based on a 1996 paper by Richard Bartle and was created in 1999–2000 by Erwin...
of player personality types in massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, creating a balanced gameplay system that appeals to a wide variety of players. Researcher Martin Oliver addressed similar issues in a 2009 study of the Kingdom of Loathing player community, Playing Roles in the MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing
Radio
A WebWorld Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
-based SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
radio station, Radio KoL, is the "official unofficial" radio station of KoL. It is a 24/7
24/7
24/7 is an abbreviation which stands for "24 hours a day, 7 days a week", usually referring to a business or service available at all times without interruption...
DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
-hosted station, with volunteer DJs drawn from the KoL user base. Twice weekly, development team members host shows on Radio KoL in which they discuss the state of the game and answer questions from players.
Reception
Critical response for Kingdom of Loathing has been generally positive, with consistent praise for the game's humor and surrealism. The gameplay and content have been praised as "well designed" and having a "huge amount of content". Matt Gallant of Gizmodo said that the game is "actually very full-featured" with "a lot of content," and according to Worlds in Motion, "Kingdom of Loathing isn't just a great game, but a really unique and interesting MMO." Jay Is GamesJay Is Games
Jay Is Games is a game review website that features daily updates and links to casual games, browser games and flash games of wide interest to casual gamers...
called it "a 'must play' game for RPG fans who want something different," and OnRPG said that "it has been very hard to find any faults in Kingdom of Loathing". The graphics have had mixed reception with some reviewers praising the decision to focus only on gameplay but others deriding them as "functional, but nothing more". The player community has also received praise for being welcoming and rarely using Internet slang
Internet slang
Internet slang is a type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites...
, unlike other online games.
Reviewer Jon Hamblin has noted the influence of Kingdom of Loathing on other games such as Twilight Heroes
Twilight Heroes
Twilight Heroes is a browser-based, multiplayer role playing game designed and operated by Quirkz Media and released in October 2007. Players take on the role of superheroes as they fight monsters and villains in turn-based combat, collect items and chips , and complete quests...
, Forumwarz
Forumwarz
Forumwarz is a multiplayer browser-based role-playing game that is a parody of Internet culture designed by Crotch Zombie Productions, a Toronto-based company run by Robin Ward, Mike Drach, and Jason Kogan. Written in the Ruby on Rails web application framework using the Haml markup language, the...
and Secret Society Wars, while Michael Walbridge of GameSetWatch said that Mafia Wars
Mafia Wars
Mafia Wars is a multiplayer Social network game created by Zynga.In Mafia Wars the gamers play as gangsters building their own mafia. The players fight other players online and complete tasks to gain rewards and strength in the game. The game is a freemium game, meaning it is free to play normally...
"borrows heavily" from it.