[mrec]

Once I grokked where you were going with this article, my first thought was the awesome King of Dragon Pass [1]. Technically it looks very simple; I'm not sure whether it was implemented as a webpage, but it definitely could be. Where it succeeds better than any other RPG I've ever encountered is in forcing you to roleplay as a bronze age tribal chieftain, because "act according to the worldview and ethics of a 21st-century westerner" just isn't on the menu. The Gloranthan heroquest elements (where your characters try to LARP mythological stories as a form of ritual magic) are wonderfully out there.

Curious whether you've played it, and if so, how close it comes to the sort of thing you're aiming for.

[1] http://store.steampowered.com/app/352220/King_of_Dragon_Pass...

[filiph]

I love King of Dragon Pass! It was definitely an inspiration (although I found out about it only after I set out to build this whole thing) and at one point I wanted my game to be basically a king/lineage simulator with options to "zoom in".

Later I figured that what works better is to have a "Conan the Barbarian / Elric / Fafhrd+Mouser simulator" that can "zoom out" to higher levels. The problem with kingdoms is that spacial relations matter _a lot_, and so that's not something you want to base your gameplay on with a text game. That's why King of Dragon Pass has a map as one of the central pieces of UI.

But yeah. Huge fan of King of Dragon Pass here.

[mrec]

> The problem with kingdoms is that spacial relations matter _a lot_, and so that's not something you want to base your gameplay on with a text game.

You're rekindling my enthusiasm for this sort of thing (I gave up on Sorcery! about halfway through Book 4 when it took rewind away, and Sunless Sea after carelessly dying 20+ hours in on ironman), but I don't think I'm as focussed on just-the-text as you.

The main appeal for me is the scope for extreme fluidity of scale and timestep, and that's perfectly compatible with maps and other informational graphics. I've played way too many CRPGs where you spend 75% of your time just trudging from A to B and back without making any decisions at all.

[hdhzy]

>... through Book 4 when it took rewind away

They took the rewind but you still have multiple revivals in case you die (and you keep your items and knowledge!) similarly to going back by Lorag in Book 2 so it's not that hard.

[mrec]

My complaint wasn't that it made it hard, it was that it made it tedious. Having to play through large stretches of the game again just to change one decision wasn't fun, and the threat of that discouraged experimentation.

[hdhzy]

I agree, experimentation was the best part of the series although I think they felt the need of making it harder since this is the finale. Personally it really made me concentrate on what's happening not to die. Sadly there is no way around it even in New Game +. And when I want to explore just one thread (e.g. Aliizi) deaths just get in the way... ;)

[Zarathruster]

King of Dragon Pass has a lot of problems as a game, but as a roleplaying experience (where 'role' doesn't just mean 'tank' or 'ranged DPS' or such) it really has no equal, IMO. What I find fascinating is that the challenge, which is to play a very specific role (what are the expectations of my tribe/patron deity), is far more interesting than what we get in more open "play however you want!" games.