Kingdom of Loathing (KoL) is a browser-based role-playing video game that is created and operated by Asymmetric publications of writer Josh alias “Mr. Skullhead” Nite and creator Zack “Jick.”
The multiplayer game is packed with surreal humor, weird and improbable creatures, and obscure pop culture. Each day the game provides you with a set of new adventures to use, usually forty.
As you would suspect, KoL is not a visually ambitious game. While the game’s aesthetic appeal relies heavily on the quality of its writing, the hand-drawn style has no charm.
Luckily, there are lots of games similar to KoL for various platforms, including the web, Android, iPad, iPhone, and Android tablets. Let’s get straight to the alternatives.
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Best Games Like The Kingdom of Loathing
1. West of Loathing
West of Loathing is a game like Kingdom of Loathing that makes fun of big open-world RPGs. It is a follow-up to the Kingdom of Loathing, and the platform keeps some of KoL mechanics, such as using meat as currency, forcing players to contend with silly goblins, and aesthetic appeal.
Its tutorial segment sets the stakes well, allowing you to customize the characters you create. Something that will make you like West of Loathing is its ability to take a standard genre setup and add joke after joke till you fall over like a poorly balanced Jenga tower!
Humor works well for West of Loathing due to its easygoing and playful nature. The music is a straightforward series of twang instrumental reels that combine vibes to form consistency. The game also relies on a surprising intricacy of design, so you may find completely random things.
Even without color, it is a fantastic Western game that still evokes moments and ambitions that make the cowboy storyline worth engaging.
Pros
- It features a unique visual style with a massive amount of player choice in role-playing.
- West of Loathing is well-written and extremely funny, with charming worlds and quests.
- Excellent style and animation
- It elicits a powerful connection of emotions using stick figures.
Cons
- Its inventory management can be cumbersome on a switch.
- The linking plates with a control stick can be clunky and slow.
West of Loathing is available for free download.
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2. A Dark Room
Similar to Kingdom of Loathing, A Dark Room is a role-playing game that Canadian, Indie Studio Doublespeak Games initially published for web browsers. Later on, in 2013, the open-source text-based game was released in the App Store for iOS devices.
A Dark Room’s story is set for players to explore a post-apocalyptic world, where the narrative is explained through action instead of constant instruction.
The longer you play A Dark Room, the more complicated it becomes to collect and build tools. The game uses environmental storytelling and gives you the feeling of constructing a narrative even when you’re only discovering it.
A Dark Room has a tradition of using language patterns to form a play that precedes computers by a thousand years.
While the entire game’s appearance and design resemble the older graphics of Kingdom of Loathing and any other text-based game, its mechanics are two distinctive parts.
The first half focuses on collecting resources to help your encampment survive, while the second involves exploring the surrounding area and encountering enemies in the nearby ruins.
Pros
- Simple and easy to use
- A Dark Room is compelling and fascinating. The presentation of characters makes you want to play more.
- The interface is well laid-out, so whether you have experience or not, you can always find your way around.
Cons
- Users still experience odd bugs from time to time.
- A good part of the game is devoted to resource management. While some users may not have a problem with this feature, it can be a turn-off for some.
A Dark Room is available for free for iOS and Android users.
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3. Realm of the Mad God
Like KoL, Realm of the Mad God is a multiplayer online game made available for digital distribution in 2012. The online shooter game was co-created by Wild Shadow Studios and is owned by DECA Games.
As a player, you are responsible for controlling characters transported to the titular god’s realm and making food for his various minions and abominations. The game features only action-based combat for skilled gunning and running.
Realm of the Mad God is an excellent MMO with a terrific dungeon top-down-style gameplay. You must make a name for yourself and become famous by slaying many monsters in the dungeon. Be careful as you play because you have to start over once your character dies.
Its graphics may be pixelated, but the game still gives you an incredible retro feeling that will retain your attention.
Pros
- It has an exciting fighting format where battles are action-packed to give you adrenaline when fighting with more challenging bosses.
- The characters vary, and their powers make the game great for the team effort.
- Level 20 gives you real excitement as it opens a new variety of bosses to fight and more characters to unlock.
Cons
- The permadeath mechanism can hurt, especially when you’re a mid-level where you feel you’re good enough to start over.
Realm of the Mad God is free to play.
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4. Fallen LondonÂ
Fallen London is a browser-based video gaming platform with great content and complexity in its gameplay within its web-based infrastructure. Unlike the Kingdom of Loathing, however, the game is more sophisticated than any browser-based game.
Since its conception in 2009, Fallen London has undergone several changes, including its name (it was initially called Echo Bazaar).
If you are a seasoned story-goer, you’ll quickly notice the sources of inspiration for the premise of Fallen London. The game is set in the fictitious Victorian-era version plus some elements of Edgar Ellen Poe and Lovecraft.
Fallen London has incredible writing that brings its settings to life. The option of creating characters makes the game more immersive, and regardless of the limited actions, you can cover a lot of material in a single sitting.
Pros
- It has an incredible amount of content.
- It offers a free-to-play demo.
- It helps you get lost in the story without the annoyances of a poorly designed user interface.
Cons
- While content is updated from time to time, it does not always give positive outcomes.
- Failbetter, the makers of the game, take a while before addressing issues.
Fallen London is a free-to-play game.
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5. Candy Box
Candy Box is a browser-based gaming platform developed and published by Aniwey. The text-based and single-player video game focuses on candies, rated per second. As you progress, the number of candies increases.
The primary goal here is to collect candy to eat or use to purchase various items. Although Candy Box offers simple gameplay, it features advanced options that appear as you perform different actions.
Candy Box has several quests to take part in, and you are required to fight against monsters and slaughter them to get candies. Much like Kingdom of Loathing, Candy Box offers text-based gameplay and allows you to immerse yourself in the experience.
Candy Box is a beautiful game to play with great features and simple graphics.
Pros
- It is unique and entertaining.
- Its locations are well structured and creative.
- The games can help you grow your skills.
- There is a lot to explore.
Cons
- You may find yourself looking for answers more on Google.
- It takes a lot of time.
Candy Box is free.
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6. Idle Miner TycoonÂ
Idle Miner Tycoon is one exciting video game that puts you on a journey to become a tycoon. It is a thrilling mobile simulation game that lets you make intelligent investments to upgrade an empire and boost the economy.
Idle Miner Tycoon is available to play on Android and iOS mobile devices and was published by Fluffy Fairy Games.
Your main goal in the game is to turn into an industrial tycoon by managing mines and profits. The game has various levels where you must build your mining company, expand it, and become the best.
The game rewards are in the form of gold when you play offline and dollars when you complete levels. Once you receive your money, use it to get more profit, and as the game progresses, you can unlock more levels, materials, resources, or more.
Pros
- It is a beautiful game with exciting features such as profit from an investment, hiring managers, idle cash, and automated workflow.
- You can recommend friends and earn rewards.
- The game is available globally and can be played at any time.
- The graphics are great.
Cons
- You could put a massive strain on your battery if you play the game in high-performance mode.
Idle Miner Tycoon is free.
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7. Progress Quest
Progress Quest is an interesting video game that can be played as an alternative to Kingdom of Loathing that Eric Fredricksen developed. Like KoL, Progress Quest is a multiplayer, text-based, and role-playing game that focuses on a zero-player element.
As a player, you must create a fictitious character without user interactions as the game plays out. The main goal of this game is to unlock more content by progressing through the game and gaining the ability to collect and interact.
You will be tasked with managing resources, crafting items using various objects, and fighting against monsters to earn statistical points. Progress Quest has an auto-combat system where you must press the button to fight against the monsters.
You can see your achievements in the text description on the progress bar, while widgets allow the game to progress in the background. Growth will only stop when your device goes to sleep.
Pros
- The graphics are unique.
- It requires less effort compared to the Kingdom of Loathing.
- You can leave it running and do other things, including playing other games.
Cons
- There is no challenge to the game.
Progress Quest is free.
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8. Idle Loot Quest
The Idle Loot Quest game is a role-playing and text-based video game similar to Kingdom of Loathing by TopCog. The single-player game for Android and iOS is strategy-focused and sets you on a journey to become famous through libraries, toy factories, or more.
Your task is to navigate the game, score the highest points, loot resources, and unlock more items using points. You can hire associates to help you gather rare items such as treasure, keys, or portions.
Pros
- You can challenge your friends to beat your highest scores on the leaderboard.
- There are over forty achievements to unlock.
- It offers exciting features such as Collect Ancient Loot, Four Skills, Forty Achievements, Hire Staff, and more.
Cons
- It drains your device’s battery.
Idle Loot Quest is free.
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9. The Ensign
Like the Kingdom of Loathing, The Ensign is a text-based role-playing video game created by Amirali Rajan. The single-player game for iOS is a pre-sequel to A Dark Room happening on a mysterious planet where the protagonist is a member of the alien species called the Wanderers.
The game’s concept revolves around a wanderer who attacked the human world and eventually lost the war despite advanced technology.
The game begins when you assume the role of a protagonist and your spaceship falls on a strange planet. Your significant task here is to struggle and find your spaceship and repair it by collecting various items and parts.
The game combines strategy, RPG, text-based, and elements of permanent death. Your task is navigating the world, managing resources, fighting vicious creatures, and finding and repairing your spaceship.
Pros
- It has a captivating storyline.
- It is engaging and addictive.
- It has an exciting gameplay with hand-drawn graphics.
- It has a series of quests.
Cons
- It’s only meant for iOS users.
- The game is relatively complex and frustrating, especially if you lack experience.
The Ensign costs $1.99 on App Store.Â
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10. Godville
Godville is a game like Kingdom of Loathing that combines role-playing, aero-playing, and browser-based elements.
The text-based game is available to play on cross-platforms, and when playing, you can assume the role of the god of the hero and influence the character by punishing or encouraging them. The game allows you to create a hero to perform as you say.
Your task here is to send your hero on various quests to rescue innocent people and fight monsters. You earn experience points by gathering gold, loot, and resources.
As you progress in the game, you’ll be able to craft items and unlock more content. You can use your points to level up your hero and immerse yourself in the game.
Pros
- Godville is safe to play.
- The support is great.
- There are various quests to explore.
- You can play it on cross-platforms.
Cons
- It takes a lot of time.
Godville is free.
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11. Choice of Romance
Choice of Romance is another exciting alternative to the Kingdom of Loathing created and published by Choice of Game LLC. Like KoL, the video game is text-based, role-playing, and an adventure that takes on a journey to exciting fantasies.
The game is all about romance, deception, and court intrigue, and it’s up to you to decide how the story of the game will proceed. Choice of Romance’s exciting gameplay has no sound effects.
The massive unending power of imagination drives its graphics. You can play as a female or male, and your mission here is to find true love, earn enough points, and complete quests to lose your head or gain a crown.
Pros
- It has a lot of freedom to choose your adventure and character.
- It is available for both Android users and iOS users.
- Enjoy the easy-touch interface.
Cons
- You may find it hard to connect with some characters as some are more fleshed out than others.
Choice of Romance is free.
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12. NationStates
NationStates is a multiplayer video game like Kingdom of Loathing developed by Max Barry. The national simulation game lets you create a nation based on your political ideals and the care of the people or deliberately oppress the people as you wish.
The mobile game was created as a marketing stunt for Barry’s novel, Jennifer Government, and its target was to get a few people to play it.
To Barry’s shock, the game ballooned to twenty thousand players within a week, so he looked for a developer to transform it into a successful mobile game.
The game begins by setting up a nation by answering questions about your intentions for the nation’s economic system, civil rights, or political freedoms.
After this, your new nation will appear in five central game regions in NationStates, but the countries can still move to the other areas. You must make your decisions right to progress as you are responsible for all kinds of issues.
ProsÂ
- It offers excellent gameplay with educational value.
- It makes you think about serious political ideas.
- Viewing and acting on an issue takes little time to see the results.
Cons
- The site includes advertisements.
NationStates is free.
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13. The Forest of Doom
The Forest of Doom is an adventure-based role-playing video game like the Kingdom of Loathing created and published by Tin Man Games.
The single-player game is also text-based, and the game introduces you to a classic book adventure to a whole generation of fantasy gaming experiences.
What sets the game apart is that it was the first adventure featured in open terrain, not a dungeon. The game offers lots of achievements, new cover artwork, and upgrades.
Pros
- The Forest of Doom allows you to relive the adventures in the Darkwood Forest on PC, Mac, and Linux.
- It will enable you to play again if you reach your destination without the quest item.
- It has an excellent and intuitive user interface.
- The auto-mapping feature helps you not to get lost in the Darkwood Forest.
Cons
- Once you solve the Forest of Doom, you might not feel the need to revisit it; hence not ideal if you are looking for a game that is long on the play.
The Forest of Doom is available on Google Play Store and App Store at $5.99.
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14. Torn
Torn is an online RPG game set in Torn City, a dark underworld where only the sharpest people survive. The game allows you to be anyone and do anything in the murky city of Torn, build your character to an infinite strength, and play it in your way.
Torn is a multiplayer game with thousands of active players worldwide. Your task is to join them, attack them, marry them, befriend them, or compete with them.
Pros
- The game is highly customizable, so you can pick any of the three core paths, namely Criminal, Fighter, or Executive, and still, you won’t be limited on what you want to do.
- It is simple and addictive.
- It has considerable scope and is not limited to winning battles and committing crimes. It is also about molding careers virtually and building an empire.
- It is fair to ensure that everything you earn comes from your hard work.
Cons
- It is slow-paced.
- It is centered on crime and hence not suitable for young users.
Torn is free to play.
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15. Urban Dead
Like the Kingdom of Loathing, Urban Dead is a text-based multiplayer online game created by British developer, Kevan Davis.
The role-playing game deals with the aftermath of a zombie outbreak where players get into the game as survivors or zombies with different abilities and limitations. The game happens in the quarantined and fictional city of Malton.
What you might find exciting about this game is the ability for survivors to communicate with fellow survivors through radio broadcasting, speech, and text messaging.
Pros
- It takes limited time to play.
- Urban Dead gives you 50 action points every day to use to perform actions.
- It is simpler than KoL with the ability to create narrative-driven personal stories.
Cons
- As a survivor, you cannot win the game.
Urban Dead is free.
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Final Word
If you’ve constantly been looking for better replacements for the Kingdom of Loathing, we hope this review will significantly help you.
Online technology continues to develop, and as we progress, more and more alternatives will come up.
But if you are looking for an online video game with a sense of humor that is playful and consistent, then West of Loathing is the game for you.
