Utopia and Kingdom Game - two MMO's that need iDevice versions

[shigzeo]

^^ our constitution draft 1 or 2 - Yeah, I was serious.

Kingdom Game originally came out as an iPhone/mobile game, but quickly, with the onslaught of new features, felt better behind a big screen, a keyboard, and an excel spread sheet. It is an HTML game with no graphics. You command a kingdom in a savage world where you can team up with mates in leagues, or alliances that can pack 50 members a piece.

I was in from 2008 March, when the game was in beta stage. Louis joined me briefly with a kingdom called BallsVille. He abandoned it later and I understand why: he just didn't have the balls.

I created Dragons of Utopia, a feisty alliance that never held more than 21 members. We were regimented and attacked on command and until I quit playing in early 2009, were per member, the most vicious alliance in world 7. We were at the heart of two brutal world wars that broke up massive Samsung-size alliances that ruled with illegal family ties and non-aggression pacts.

In its current form, it is only partially playable on the iDevice. You can log in, play, attack, spy and do everything, but to play well, you need an attack calculator and that is why the iDevice doesn't work well. An app that would integrate Kingdom Game with an attack calculator and forum support would be rad.

Kingdom Game is a good game, but it lacks all of the refinement and fairness that makes Utopia the best HTML MMO in the verse. By the way, this would be a cool game to meet up and make a TouchMyApps alliance... you only really need to spend about 15 minutes a day playing and we could rule the freaking roost at least in our size... hint hint wink wink, say no more, say no more.

Utopia
I still play this. It is everything that Kingdom Game could have been, but isn't. It's been going since 1998 and is, in some ways, more complicated. You join a kingdom by default and play one province inside of it. A kingdom can be up to 25 provinces, but often is even less. I was playing with a good mate of mine for about a year in a top 50 kingdom (there are currently 450 kingdoms), but my internet connection is so bad that I had to quit as we needed very active players.

The problem with utopia is that it uses some non-standard web elements that don't work (especially in forums) for the iDevice, and of course, you need (even more than kingdom game) an external calculator.

Combat, spying, magic - everything is miles above Kingdom Game. Instead of getting trashed every time someone attacks you, you can attack and play give and take. You have dedicated defence units and races and roles. This is an RPG and strategy game. As long as you don't need graphics, there isn't a better HTML MMO. I'd love to be able to play this at coffee shops (during wars), but because I need attack caclulators, I cannot. Utopia's devs could revive a lot of excitement with utopia if only they released an iDevice version that incorporated:

Utopia Angel (attack calculator), Utopia Pimp (online stat tracking) and the main game: Utopia.

[louis]

A warning to all who've never tried MMOs like Utopia and Kingdom Game before - be prepared to waste loads of time playing the game.

Shigs introduced me to Utopia a good many years ago and I was immediately sucked into its 'simple' yet mindlessly addictive world. I was never big on MMOs to begin with, so it was an entirely new experience for me. Despite being completely text-based (which I doubted could be any fun), the game surprised me with just how much fun it can be ruling over a virtual province. Sadly, mine was completely useless in the grand scheme of things and I lost more battles than I could count. Still it was mighty fun while it lasted. Eventually, I had to quit on my Kingdom as I found myself obsessing with how my virtual peeps were doing and I kept logging in just to check up on my province.

I'd love to see Utopia get its own iDevice version... that's probably the only MMO I'd play on my iPhone.

[shigzeo]

And it would save me grief: currently, Utopia's Angel attack calculator is Windows-Only. OSX ports seem to have been abandoned years ago. It would be so nice to open up Utopia (I'd even pay 99 cents - 2 dollars for it) and get all the functionality I need to play well and help my kingdom win.

[NineSwords]

I'd pay for a Trade Wars version on the iPhone.

[shigzeo]

Haha, see! I've sort of petitioned Utopia's creators at least to see if they would create an iPhone version. I doubt it will happen, but if it did, there'd be a lot of subscriptions from people who'd never pay otherwise. MMO's, when done properly and not just graphic rips from Facebook, are amazing games.