Incredibly Strange Games

PROGRESS QUEST
created by: Grumdig
platforms: PC, Web, Linux or something

Take everything important about fantasy RPGs, distill it down to its essence, and you have Progress Quest, a fire-and-forget RPG in which you kill monsters, complete quests, level-up, earn items and gold, sell items, buy new equipment and generally progress, all without ever having to do anything other than start the executable.

Watching your quests happen and your experience points and levels accumulate is about 110% more fun than having to do a lot of needless clicking to see the same thing happen in WoW or Ultima, and the game retains an intentionally old-school look. The web version even comes with a helpful default XP backdrop to lend to the nostalgic experience.

Needless to say, there is a very active guild and forum community, as well as a good deal of fan fiction written about the game’s world(s). I was an early player of PQ, and for a while I was in the Top 100 on the Knoram server. While a PC crash stopped my Progress, I still visit fairly frequently. I’ve considered getting back into it, but PQ is a demanding game — the leaderboard page doesn’t auto-refresh — so I’m on the sidelines these days, although I try to stay current with the forums. 

With detailed stat and leaderboard tracking, and one of the best FAQs online, ProgressQuest is, like most online RPGs, well worth a few hundred hours of your time.

Play free here: www.progressquest.com