We’re all familiar, I’d imagine, with rogue-like games. You play a quick and dirty character which is usually an ‘@’ symbol or small pixelated graphic and you charge into battle against nameless foes and perform unusual but highly entertaining actions. If you were given more freedom the actions would probably border on the ridiculous, mirroring what is essentially the universe your character is in. You would probably graffiti inn signs, chase small goblins around flinging fruit at them and try to pick up at the tavern. From the view of the virtual GM hypothetically running the game, this must appear very silly. Finally, there is a game that shows you in graphic detail what this would be like – Godville.
In Godville, you don’t play a character. You don’t move around, you don’t go on quests and you certainly don’t fight monsters. You just watch your hero do all these thing – often badly… The character, who for whatever reason, is your most devoted follower, will travel around the game world fighting, stealing from merchants, robbing monsters who are looking the other way, hide, flee, brag, embarrass himself and generally behave exactly how any adventurer in any roleplaying game would act – like an English tourist in Ibiza…
There are only three things that you can do in the game, namely punish your hero, encourage your hero and pass on messages to your hero. These actions are the only influence you can have on your hero and they do have some impact. If you consistently encourage your hero he will become gentle, punish him and he will become cruel. A gentle character heals more quickly, while the more evil character will do more damage in combat.
All of your hero’s activities he or she will write up in their diary. This sordid little tome details their highly adventurous life – all recorded in minutiae for you to read – and this is pretty much all there is to the game. You have access to his diary, inventory sheet and messages that you have sent him. You watch your character struggle and grow into a mighty warrior, but you have very little direct control over how this will happen. And yet, it is deeply rewarding as a game. There is something incrediably satisfying in watching your hero develop. Often his diary is hilarious to read as well. It shows in rather stark reality just what your actions as a character in a roleplaying game look like to outsiders, which is illuminating to say the least…
The game is free for the iPhone and there is a web version also (which you can gain access to by signing up in the iPhone version). It is well worth the investment in time you will make guiding your follower and keeping track of their activities.
Godville – iTunes (free) | Website
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