Last night a friend informed me of a revolutionary new computer role-playing game, Progress Quest. The really interesting bit is that it seems to be very rather unlike any other such game that I’ve ever seen. The primary difference is that it is, what’s best referred to as, a fire-and-forget role-playing game. Besides the fire-and-forget bit, which I will get into in a momentarily, the game plays like other such games (Diablo, Baldur’s Gate, Fallout, etc.), except in that it’s a little lacking on the visuals. It even includes net-play for those that prefer to have companions.
The game runs under Windows and there don’t seem to be any ports to other platforms. The system requirements are incredibly minimal, requiring about 6MB or RAM and using an average of 0%-1% of my CPU.
So, about the fire-and-forget bit; you start out the game, just the same as you would start any other computer (and many non-computer) role-playing games, by rolling up a character, selecting a race and selecting a class. The character creation system informs you of the fact that the games atmosphere is not a terribly serious one, but humor does not a bad game make. The interesting bit comes in after you have made your character and begin play. The controls and interface are fairly simple; the interface is a standard, fairly detailed character sheet and there are no controls. No controls, you might ask, well then how do I play and develop my character? The answer to that is simple; it’s a fire-and-forget role-playing game, so your character will do all the work for you. Your character will run around adventuring, killing random monsters and making progress on his quests. This might strike you as a bit odd at first, but give it a little time and you’ll find that it really grows on you (and not like a fungus or a tumor).
I strongly recommend that you take look at it; it’s quite a lot of fun. And if you find yourself playing online, feel free to look me up, I go as “Contrad the 70th” amd I play in the realm of Oobog. Contrad the 70th, named after a brand labratory soap produced by Decon Labs, is of the Land Squid race and a member of the Bastard Lunatic class. As of this post, Contrad is level 13 and I hope to play enough to get him to a significantly higher level; after all, it is IAP and I will have plenty of time on my hands.