Best Strategy Web Browser Game of 2012 - For Programmers: The Grid

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Konstantinos Dimopoulos
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Article from Indie Games: http://indiegames.com/2012/07/browser_game_pick_the_grid.html

The Grid is the sort of game I haven't played in over 10 years. It is a text-only strategy multiplayer game you play by actually typing in commands and fantasizing you are logged in a BBS. It does feel quite a bit like a boardgame and generally has you capturing squares, building farms, hiring wizards, stealing from your neighbors, inciting revolutions, forming alliances and even attempting to bless everyone, while fighting to gather all the resources a powerful master of the grid would need.

Fun eh? Well, it is, but it sure isn't the simplest game to master and, were it not for some incredibly patient and kind players, I'd still be struggling with it. Not that I'm not struggling now, but, at the very least, I do have a vague idea of what I should be doing and am even forming some sort of strategy I believe. Great times ahead!

The Grid
It's an elaborate system made up of row upon row of perfectly chiseled squares, each ruled by either a fool or master strategian.

Once The Grid deems you worthy, you will be given your very own square. You will rule this square - or see it ruled by another.

Upon entrance, you will notice many other squares, fighting for survival or to spawn themselves like amoeba unto the far corners of The Grid. If your spectacles are not too foggy from the freezing air in this wondrous utopia, you will notice a command terminal with many different actions you can take.

Selecting the infamous Find Me option will point you to your square, or bestow upon you a new square if you have lost yours in battle. You will notice, no doubt, 3 letters etched across the surface of your square, spelling out pure gibberish, most likely, to the causal observer. But, hover closer into the thin window separating your physical body from this shell of a reality, and you will see that these same 3 letters actually do carry a meaning...

Welcome to The Grid! 6 columns wide, 150 rows deep (when full), 900 squares overall (when full), updating nearly every second during activity and completing a full turn every 420 seconds (or 7 minutes), The Grid is truly an amazing place! It is run by square-holders and ghosts (those who own no squares). It is easy to begin playing, but difficult to stop. There is no going back now...

In The Grid, you can play as a determined serf, working your way towards greatness and conquest of the entire Grid - in essence, the new Overlord. You can also play very diplomatically by forming many alliances with other players around you, helping others and learning the craft of getting others to lean towards your counsel, while you steadily grow stronger. Or, as some have done, you may play the role of a ghost or player that only has one chief purpose: to make everyone else as miserable as possible by inciting rebellions across The Grid, wreaking havoc from the skies above, and stealing gold. The choice is yours. All paths are legal, but some come with more residual effects. Good luck!

You can register (just enter a valid email) here : http://codeelf.com/games/grid/register/
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