Idle Worship Review (Facebook)

It would be fair to say that most free-to-play browser games have a poor reputation thanks to certain titles. Don’t be swayed into assuming this will be the rule instead of the exception. Be open-minded and take a look at Idle Worship from Idle Games. Taking on the role as God o’er a population of simple, smiling, er… silly mud things your goal is to amass followers and create the largest religion on Facebook.

From the start, this game is engaging thanks to a smutty and irreverent sense of humour which sees Godly Powers featuring: Morning Wood, Harry Palms and Crabs. Instead of these coming across as “fnur fnur she said morning wood” the incredibly cute cartoon style graphics balance it all out nicely and the descriptive text for Holy Water (the glorious golden shower of happiness) makes me smirk as opposed to rolling my eyes in despair.

Getting into the swing of being an omnipotent deity is a doddle as Idle Worship follows standard mechanics. Resources are basic and simply involve fish, wood and stone which are collected via your Mudlings; these cheerful little minions drift about being hopeless till you drop them somewhere with a job. Constructs are built using supplies and time, benefiting your religion or followers in some way – usually via influence – thus expanding your admirers and launching you on the journey to becoming Top God.

Where this game starts to become more absorbing is with this promise “Idle Worship® allows you to play synchronously, meaning together with friends & strangers, all in real time.” You’re not just visiting other people’s islands and leaving them little gifts of sticks and stones but playing in the same world, together: random bonus exploding pots of gold will spawn and fellow Gods will rush to that island to pick over the winnings; a curse cast on a neighbour could cause an earthquake over on HoppyIsland (and frequently does).

There’re customisation options for those who enjoy dressing up *cough*. Mudlings like nothing better than a good bit of worshipping and the best place for that is at a Moai which, rather handily, you can decorate with all manner of clutter. Mine is a rather delightful shade of pink… with blue fairy wings… and a purple koala. I don’t know why either. Why not? These little bits of bling can be purchased with gold coins (in-game currency) or tokens (premium currency). Thankfully if you choose not to drop cash on this game you shouldn’t feel penalised as there’s still plenty of game to be had for free. You’ll just have to wait longer, as is ever the case.

This is one of very few browser games I’ve played that doesn’t feel like it’s been designed to be addictive. There’s no showering you with riches before cutting you off cold turkey and nor does it commit the sin of spamming you with incessant demands to involve friends and loved ones with your sordid gaming habits. For a quick and cheerful pick me up on a miserable, rainy day I highly recommend getting your God on.

You can play Idle Worship on Facebook now.