A Tale In the Desert for Windows

A non-violent MMORPG based in ancient Egypt

I'll admit it: I'm not a huge fan of MMORPGs (AKA Massively Multiplayer Online RolePlay Games). I've never been into mythical creatures or hocus pocus, so many games in the genre were an immediate turn-off for me. Also, I've witnessed the harrowing effects of a World Of Warcraft addiction, ravaging friends and colleagues alike, with its demand for more and more gold.

So it was with trepidation that I fired-up the third iteration of A Tale In The Desert (ATITD), an MMORPG based in ancient Egypt. But that trepidation soon faded to fascination: ATITD is really interesting and very different from most other games in the MMORPG genre. It's completely non-violent and relies on players working together as a real community to achieve goals. You start on a small beginners' island and immediately start to discover what you need to do to escape to the main game islands. Building a ferry teaches you pretty much everything you need to get started in the world and to achieve citizen status.

ATITD's graphics are fairly good, especially considering we tested it on a machine without much in the way of video RAM. The sound effects and music in the game were also very pleasant, and added a lot of atmosphere. I noticed various server timeouts during my test of the game, and I suspect that these issues disappear when you become a paying player (after the 24hr demo, the game costs US$13.95 per month).

A fun and challenging MMORPG which represents a welcome departure in the genre for those not enchanted by magic and pixies.