Kingdom of Loathing is, to quote Wikipedia, a “browser-based multiplayer role-playing game.” It was released all the way back in 2003 and is still being actively developed fifteen years later. (You may be aware of West of Loathing, which has a very similar style.)
The game has a rather… unique style. The playerbase isn’t what it used to be, but it’s still worth playing, and there’s a small but dedicated community of speedruners.
The game also makes for a few very interesting case studies. Kingdom of Loathing contains early versions of a lot of freemium elements… but far less predatory, and introduced years before they became popular. I particularly like its implementation of “premium currencies” and “turn limits.”
Today, I want to talk about gambling minigames.
