8 kb/s worth of fun #1

I don't really know how to introduce the blog, so uh, I'm just gonna jump straight into it.

I live in Australia, and that means 2 things primarily; I'm lazy and no matter where I live, American ghettoes usually have better internet than I do.

This makes it incredibly hard to play new games and when inevitably I do hit the bandwidth cap halfway through the month, It'd be easy for me bored. Luckily, there are games out there for the man with dial-up speed net and I find its my duty to share this joy that's accessible at 8 kb/s with the world.

Epicmafia is a nifty little game that streamlines and refines the popular forum game into something quite wonderful. If I were to market it to the fratboy, I would call it an online multiplayer class-based thriller in a mafia setting. For everyone else, Its a game of wits and psychology as all sides of the match attempt to root out the other.

The multiplayer suite itself is quite robust for a browser based game. Once you register (a free, quick and easy process) its easy to jump into a match from the lobby or create your own match once you've learnt the ropes. Quite quickly you'll begin to understand both the game specific slang and the easiest methods of beguiling your opponents.

The community is vibrant and very much alive and you'll soon begin to recognise 'famous' faces around the community. Players are encouraged to both play by the rules and to not throw away matches carelessly due to an online high score board and a surprisingly unobtrusive karma system.

In short this game manages to create interesting and incredibly entertaining gameplay in a lightweight and easy to understand package. Quite quickly you'll find yourself embroiled in battles of logic and office chair psychology that will not only entertain but infuriate you in the most strangely compelling way.

I wouldn't have started playing this game were it not for my crappy net, but I know its a game I can't see myself ever giving up. Its great for filling in a few minutes and also good for a laugh. It'll take you less than 3 minutes to get started, so why not give it a shot?