Twilight Heroes
Encyclopedia
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 superhero
es as they fight monsters and villains in turn-based combat, collect items and chips
(the game's currency
), and complete quests
. The game's setting features surreal humor, parody
, references to popular culture
, and word play
, most notably the spoonerism
. Twilight Heroes is free-to-play
, but offers incentives for donations.
story, but much more interactive." The player chooses an area of the city to "patrol". Patrolling may have two outcomes: either combat will be initiated or a small story will be displayed. Patrolling consumes game turns, and once all turns are used up the player character's bedtime has arrived, and they must rest to prepare for their day job. Players may increase their number of turns per day by consuming caffeine
-based items such as coffee or tea, but only by a limited amount per day. The game day resets and players are granted more turns at rollover, an event which occurs daily at 11:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5).
Initially, the player may only visit Somerset Square and his or her Hideout. Somerset Square is the suburb in which the player lives, and contains stores and low-level areas for patrolling. The Hideout is the area where the player can rest to regain Hit Points and Power Points
. Here, the player can also assemble or weld items, access their computer
(if available), manage character specialty-only items and switch types of transportation in the garage
.
Players can undertake quests, fight bosses
, and advance the in-game story. As the player increases in level and gains new modes of transportation, more areas become available to patrol. For example, a player with a bicycle can access more areas of the city than one who is on foot, while a player with a jetpack
has even greater range and can even patrol in the sky.
The game shares many similarities with Kingdom of Loathing
, such as the focus on humor and word play. Both games use turn-based systems which grant players a limited number of actions per day. The game's creator, "Ryme", consulted Kingdom of Loathing creator Jick's advice in multiple areas of game design and coding.
Twilight City, which resembles an average American city, albeit one in which superpowers, renegade robots and monsters are commonplace. The city's currency
is the casino chip. The player begins the game as middle-waged, apathetic, average citizen in a city plagued by crime. After the player character's apartment is ransacked, he or she decides to fight back against the criminals. The player encounters a suspicious figure on the street, but is quickly knocked unconscious. Upon waking up, the player character discovers a talisman, an object which grants the character superpowers. The qualities of the talisman vary according to the character class
the player selected, with the four available classes being: Elemental, Gadgeteer, Naturalist, and Psion.
games of 2007 by IndieGames.com
. Video game journalist John Walker described the game as "a surprisingly in-depth and complex RPG". Despite finding combat becoming repetitive very quickly, he stated the game's writing makes it "a lot of fun". In particular he highlighted the in-game dictionary, which offers off-the-wall descriptions of items which are unambiguous in the first place. Eurogamer
's Jon Hamblin rated Twilight Heroes 6/10, citing the lack of opportunities for players to customize their characters and the lack of activities for players with more experienced and powerful characters, but noted that new quests were regularly being added. Hamblin stated that the largest problem he found was the inconsistent tone; "...the mildly tongue-in-cheek descriptions here are occasionally too serious, and neither specific enough for parody, nor funny enough to take flight on their own."
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 designed and operated by Quirkz Media and released in October 2007. Players take on the role of superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es as they fight monsters and villains in turn-based combat, collect items and chips
Casino token
Casino tokens are small discs used in lieu of currency in casinos. Colored metal, injection molded plastic or compression molded clay tokens of various denominations are used primarily in table games, as opposed to metal token coins, used primarily in slot machines...
(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 complete quests
Quest (gaming)
A quest in role-playing video games — including massively multiplayer online role-playing games and their predecessors, MUDs — is a task that a player-controlled character or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward...
. The game's setting features surreal humor, 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...
, 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...
, and 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...
, most notably the spoonerism
Spoonerism
A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner , Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency...
. Twilight Heroes is free-to-play
Free-to-play
Free-to-play refers to any video game that has the option of allowing its players to play without paying. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games targeted towards casual gamers, before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game...
, but offers incentives for donations.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Twilight Heroes has been described as "...sort of like a Choose Your Own AdventureChoose 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...
story, but much more interactive." The player chooses an area of the city to "patrol". Patrolling may have two outcomes: either combat will be initiated or a small story will be displayed. Patrolling consumes game turns, and once all turns are used up the player character's bedtime has arrived, and they must rest to prepare for their day job. Players may increase their number of turns per day by consuming caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
-based items such as coffee or tea, but only by a limited amount per day. The game day resets and players are granted more turns at rollover, an event which occurs daily at 11:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5).
Initially, the player may only visit Somerset Square and his or her Hideout. Somerset Square is the suburb in which the player lives, and contains stores and low-level areas for patrolling. The Hideout is the area where the player can rest to regain Hit Points and Power 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...
. Here, the player can also assemble or weld items, access their computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
(if available), manage character specialty-only items and switch types of transportation in the garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
.
Players can undertake quests, fight bosses
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
, and advance the in-game story. As the player increases in level and gains new modes of transportation, more areas become available to patrol. For example, a player with a bicycle can access more areas of the city than one who is on foot, while a player with a jetpack
Jet pack
Jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack, and similar names are various types of devices, usually worn on the back, that are propelled by jets of escaping gases so as to allow a single user to fly....
has even greater range and can even patrol in the sky.
The game shares many similarities with Kingdom of Loathing
Kingdom of Loathing
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...
, such as the focus on humor and word play. Both games use turn-based systems which grant players a limited number of actions per day. The game's creator, "Ryme", consulted Kingdom of Loathing creator Jick's advice in multiple areas of game design and coding.
Plot
The game takes place in the fictionalFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
Twilight City, which resembles an average American city, albeit one in which superpowers, renegade robots and monsters are commonplace. The city'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...
is the casino chip. The player begins the game as middle-waged, apathetic, average citizen in a city plagued by crime. After the player character's apartment is ransacked, he or she decides to fight back against the criminals. The player encounters a suspicious figure on the street, but is quickly knocked unconscious. Upon waking up, the player character discovers a talisman, an object which grants the character superpowers. The qualities of the talisman vary according to the character class
Character 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...
the player selected, with the four available classes being: Elemental, Gadgeteer, Naturalist, and Psion.
Reception
Twilight Heroes is one of ten games listed as the best freeware role-playing and RoguelikeRoguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
games of 2007 by IndieGames.com
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
. Video game journalist John Walker described the game as "a surprisingly in-depth and complex RPG". Despite finding combat becoming repetitive very quickly, he stated the game's writing makes it "a lot of fun". In particular he highlighted the in-game dictionary, which offers off-the-wall descriptions of items which are unambiguous in the first place. 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...
's Jon Hamblin rated Twilight Heroes 6/10, citing the lack of opportunities for players to customize their characters and the lack of activities for players with more experienced and powerful characters, but noted that new quests were regularly being added. Hamblin stated that the largest problem he found was the inconsistent tone; "...the mildly tongue-in-cheek descriptions here are occasionally too serious, and neither specific enough for parody, nor funny enough to take flight on their own."