Merlin Game Preview

You would be forgiven for thinking that Facebook games are all terrible. Over at Hookshot Inc, Simon Parkin discussed the bane of energy as a limiter and just a few minutes with a game like Yoga Retreat will clearly illustrate the detrimental effect this can have on gameplay. It’s undoubtedly a popular model – The Sims Social has 12 million registered users – but for core gamers used to unrestricted play it can be very frustrating.

Bossa Studios are out to make great gaming experiences on social platforms. Last year they released Monstermind, a wonderful asynchronous multiplayer game and now they’re working on a Merlin game officially tied in to the popular BBC television series.

“The thing with D&D and RPGs in general, they are awesome,” said Lead Designer Mike Bithell. “You cast an awesome magic spell or you hit something with a big sword and he dies. That’s the cool stuff. The stuff that really frustrates players when they first start with RPGs is stats and numbers and crunching. [Facebook players] understand level-up. Looking at Farmville, they get that kind of structure, the idea of gaining points and loot from things. What they don’t get and what we’re hoping to bring them into is that fun of building up a character and story world.”

Obviously the stories of King Arthur and Merlin are something that most of us in Britain and the western world will at least be be aware of. There’s such a rich mythology that it’s a perfect place to start newcomers – those who love the show will be able to venture with their favourite characters and those who don’t will still recognise concepts like the Round Table, which comes through as your game’s friends list.

You play as your own character in the world, with your own adventures that just happen to occur parallel to the show. If, for example, Merlin talked about going somewhere in the TV show, you’ll probably meet him running around there when you visit in the game.

Merlin The Game is heavily instanced. You don’t run around the world but “fast-travel” from the hub city of Camelot by selecting a quest from a map filled with sneaky references to the TV show. As with previous Bossa games, it will be free-to-play (but now pay-to-win) and your equipment will be a mix of in-game drops and purchasable equivalents.

The build I played was, understandably, a little rough around the edges but is instantly recognisable as a classic yet browser-based RPG. You run around isometric worlds clicking on things, killing goblins and picking up ever-more-powerful staffs and swords. “It really is about taking those MMO and RPG tropes and repackaging them in a way that works for our audience,” said Bithell. “You don’t need to know the DPS [damage per second] on that.”

It’s rather Diablo-esque and the DPS is there but hidden behind the scenes for those who still want it. I think the system works well and even as a long-time RPG fan, I was happily clicking about the game killing things for 15 minutes. There’s plenty of depth and variety in the loot drops and spells that it would be great for a lunch break.

Merlin The Game is a Facebook game and accepting closed beta applications now.