BatMUD

About

BatMUD is a single player and multiplayer open world hack and slash game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Emil Nilimaa and was released on November 19, 2019. It received positive reviews from players.

Forge artifacts of power. Sail to faraway lands. Build a city in your name. Establish your legacy. Perish, and be born anew. See guilds fall, races become extinct - or be one to nurture them. Explore the realm and roam free. Hone your craft, by forge or by arcane arts, and empower yourself - or others, for a price. -- BatMUD is a text-based medieval fantasy game with an extremely rich set of…

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85%

Audience ScoreBased on 145 reviews

humor3 positive mentions

grinding11 negative mentions

Extremely deep and complex gameplay with intricate class systems, extensive character progression, and a massive evolving world offering decades of content.
The community, while having experienced players, is passionate and generally helpful especially to new players willing to learn; strong sense of shared history and player-driven world.
The dedicated BatClient enhances the experience with integrated world maps, status trackers, and UI improvements making the classic text-based game more accessible and enjoyable.

Steep and harsh learning curve with outdated, clunky text-command interface that can be frustrating and difficult for new players to grasp, with poor in-game guidance and limited quality-of-life features.
The player base is dominated by long-time veterans making it challenging for newcomers to find parties or be accepted, coupled with a fragmented community, presence of bots, and some reported toxic or intolerant behavior.
The Steam client suffers from bugs, poor UI scaling on high-resolution displays, lack of modern features, and slow or inadequate developer support, and the game features pay-to-win elements via in-game purchases that impact character power and progression.

story
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The story is rooted in classic role-playing elements with intriguing text and character dialogue, but it is often hampered by a steep learning curve, outdated controls, and frustrating quest design that demands familiarity with niche source material. While some players appreciate the focus on quests and story, others find the restrictions on character choices and clunky mechanics detract from the narrative experience. Overall, the game appeals more to dedicated fans who enjoy deep community involvement and nostalgia for old-school RPG storytelling.
- “Interesting story text and character dialogue.”
- “I suggest anyone wanting to play this game to look for quests and the story plot more than anything.”
- “Come back to the days where community, story and imagination drove role-playing games without the mess of needing a telnet or ssh client.”
- “My only thoughts were, 'it was cheap; kinda reminded me of Dungeons and Dragons; and might be interesting.' If I had known what I know now, about its steep learning curve, infuriating 80's era text command controls (which brings back painful, frustrating memories of playing Zork and other Infocom games, getting stuck, not knowing how the hell I was going to proceed) that fry my neurons whenever I attempt to do anything, the fact that if I pick a certain race, I'm limited to certain professions and backgrounds and have no freedom of choice, and other clunky, inefficient, and unfun features that make playing this game a painful chore, I would never have wasted 6 hours of my life on this unpleasant experience, and thus become no longer eligible for a refund, trapping me with this cruel, joyless thing (I refuse to call it a game, because there's nothing fun about spending hours trying to receive a story from an NPC or having the game insult you by saying 'oh! you talk to imaginary people too?' when I'm deliberately trying to ask an innkeeper NPC who's right in front of me directions, or about definitely not imaginary characters like the bandit from my first tutorial mission; gaaahhhhh, I hate this abomination).”
- “There are absolutely weird aspects (you cannot solve the Holy Grail quest as a female character, you have to get a sex change to do it), and areas/quests that basically require you to know the source material the author plagiarized (one map is just an X-Files episode, and the solution is 'just do what Mulder did in this 90's TV show).”
- “You will be hard pressed to find relevant walkthroughs with detailed quest or mechanical information.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is a significant and sometimes tedious part of the game, but the mechanics encourage exploration and variety rather than repetitive enemy farming. While solo grinding can become monotonous and challenging at higher levels, the game offers diverse activities like quests, daily tasks, and multi-classing to keep the experience engaging. Progression requires dedication and connection with the community, making grinding rewarding but potentially time-consuming.
- “Grinding is an important part of the game but the tune system means you can't just mindlessly grind the same enemies again and again, this encourages you to explore (which also gives exp) and you find new and better areas in the world and fun little secrets.”
- “+/- grinding experience points and cash is fun, but if you do it alone and always in the same places, the game starts to feel like work, or even worse.”
- “- if "getting to the top" is your only goal, you can pretty much forget about it, unless you are well connected, super-active individual and willing to spend a couple of years of constant grinding and exploring.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
45%
33%
The game features no traditional graphics, relying entirely on text and players' imagination to create an immersive experience. While lacking flashy visuals, it offers deep, sophisticated gameplay appreciated by those who value creativity over modern graphical enhancements. For accessibility, some custom clients provide basic graphical tools like mapping, but overall, the focus remains on imaginative engagement rather than visual presentation.
- “No flashy graphics needed when the imagination does the heavy lifting.”
- “This game uses the most advanced graphical engine out there: your imagination!”
- “No graphics at all.”
- “However I would recommend trying it to anyone that isn't put off by the lack of shiny 3D graphics.”
- “The game is free to connect to on telnet, mudlet, etc., but I tried this custom client because of the graphical windows and mapper, which is likely the only way I could get into a MUD in 2021.”
gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The gameplay offers deep and strategic mechanics beyond simple command-typing, including combat, crafting, and player interaction with long-term consequences. While some guilds and mechanics feel outdated and complex, a supportive community and in-depth tutorials help new players navigate the challenging, text-based experience. Overall, the game emphasizes immersive exploration and continuous engagement over graphics, rewarding dedication with extensive content.
- “The mechanics go far beyond simple command-typing: combat, magic, crafting, exploration, politics, guilds, and player interaction all have real depth and long-term consequences.”
- “Modern games provide just a few hours of gameplay due to focusing on graphics and music, but MUD focuses on unleashing your fantasy and so tens of thousands of hours pass without noticing.”
- “With any gaming community, there are flaws and growing pains, but features and functions of the game and client, along with balanced strategic gameplay, outweigh the few legacy issues.”
- “If you want to play with others, you should re-roll your character and do this. Some guilds, like civilized mages, are mechanically awful and literally have better alternatives (runemages are also in the same guild line).”
- “No matter the angle, we're looking at antiquated gameplay that requires you to both input and comprehend text.”
- “You will be hard pressed to find relevant walkthroughs with detailed quest or mechanical information.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, including major visual glitches and buggy UI elements that can render it unplayable without disabling certain features. Early troubleshooting attempts failed to resolve startup problems, raising concerns about its stability as the game develops further.
- “I bought this game and no matter how much troubleshooting I did, it did not start.”
- “Having the buttons at the top of the client causes major visual glitches that make the game unplayable if I ever click on them (or sometimes hover the mouse over them). I had to turn those buttons off in the settings to make the client usable.”
- “If it's this buggy early on when things are simple, how screwed up is it going to be when things start growing in complexity?”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game’s lore is praised as exceptional and well-crafted, providing a humorous backdrop to an otherwise complex and cryptic gameplay experience. However, some players note that the community interactions, particularly around trading, can be frustrating and somewhat ironically humorous due to inflated prices and repetitive dealings.
- “Lore is exceptional and humorous.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music aspect is minimal or absent, with some users noting there are no audio effects or music in the game, contrasting modern games that emphasize music and graphics but offer shorter gameplay.
- “No audio effects or music.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game includes in-game purchases that directly enhance character power and accelerate experience and gold gains, though this information is not clearly disclosed on the store page. Users warn that these monetization mechanics may impact gameplay balance.
- “This game features in-game purchases that directly increase the power of your character, as well as the rate at which they gain experience and gold.”
- “More of a warning than a review, since the store page doesn't seem to mention that this game features in-game purchases that directly increase the power of your character, as well as the rate at which they gain experience and gold.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers high replayability by enabling players to transfer most of their progress to new character builds, allowing for diverse and extensive power level growth across multiple playthroughs.
- “What sets this game apart is the sheer scope of power level growth available, and the replayability introduced by allowing you to take the vast majority of your progress and apply it to an entirely new character build.”