The Endless Forest

One IGF entrant I was surprised to see on the list was an experimental MMO called The Endless Forest. I first found out about it last year, but it was too weird for me. But now it seems to have acquired a stable following of seemingly sane fans, so I am giving it a second chance.

Basically it's a game where you are a magical stag with a human-ish face, with a glowy pictogram between your antlers that serves to differentiate you from the other players. You walk around in a mysterious forest, where you may find other deer to play with. There is no chat though - all communication must be done with body language.

There's some weirder stuff too. Apparently there exist "pagan souls" that you can convert to Christianity by touching them. At the end of the day pagan souls turn into pagan idols while Christian souls turn into gravestones with crosses on them. Not only that but there are plans to add computer-controlled female deer with which you must mate.

So naturally I suspected that it was part of an evil plan to brainwash players into joining some sort of strange and dangerous cult. :p However, after reading through the forums, which are full of innocent discussion among players, as well as friendly and sane responses by the developers, some of my initial suspicion has been lifted. I have even downloaded the game and created an account!

(to be continued...)