text: kingdom of loathing kingdom of loathing ( abbreviated kol ) is a browser - based multiplayer role - playing game designed and operated by asymmetric publications , including creator zack " jick " johnson and writer josh " mr " nite . the game was released in 2003 . because content is added frequently , the game is considered unfinished and officially remains in open beta . it uses hand - drawn stick figure graphics and writing characterized by surreal humor , word play , parody and references to popular culture . in kol , a player 's character fights monsters for experience , and acquiring meat ( the game 's currency ) , and / or items , through a turn - based system . players may also interact with each other through player versus player competition , participate in the in - game economy by trading goods and services , organize their characters into clans , work together to complete clan dungeons , and speak to each other in many different chat channels . the game is also particularly notable for managing to be financially successful purely from donations and the purchase of merchandise rather than from advertising or subscription fees , which are used by many online games . in 2008 , the game had between 100 , 000 and 150 , 000 regular players . these players form an active community which frequently organizes fan meet - ups and runs an internet radio station . the game has been generally well received by critics . in 2012 , mr. card game , a tabletop game based on kingdom of loathing , was launched on kickstarter . gameplay and features gameplay involves fighting monsters , completing quests , gaining skills and stats , and accumulating items and meat . in kol 's turn - based gameplay , a player 's character is supplied with a number of adventures each day , at a base of 40 , although this can be increased . the game day resets at a time called " rollover " . characters are allotted forty adventures every rollover , though they can increase that number with various equipment and items . additional adventures can be acquired by consuming food and booze . however , only a limited amount of each can be consumed each day , and drinking too much booze puts the character into a drunken stupor for the remainder of the day . during rollover , drunkenness and fullness levels are reset , and minor amounts of health points and magic points are restored . although a character can accumulate a large number of adventures , the number is reduced to 200 at rollover . most actions in the game use up adventures , including crafting items and exploring the game world ( adventuring ) . when exploring , players experience combat encounters , in which they fight monsters , as well as non - combat encounters . combat is turn - based , meaning that the player and the monster take turns attacking one another using weapons , skills and items . players who successfully defeat a monster receive experience points , pieces of meat ( the game 's currency ) , and various items . non - combat encounters simply present the reader with a text description of an event , occasionally allowing the player to choose how to respond to that event . after gaining enough experience points , players will gain levels , allowing them to access new areas and quests . characters can combine items by using " meat paste " ( a substance analogous to glue ) , and can also cook food , mix cocktails and smith weapons and armor . characters may also earn trophies or tattoos for various in - game achievements . puzzle - solving is an important part of the game , with the solutions often involving a certain item combination or the completion of tasks in different zones . player interaction while kingdom of loathing 's player versus environment content is largely single - player , some features allow multiplayer interaction . player versus player ( pvp ) combat is voluntary , features a randomized selection of non - interactive minigames , and is subdivided into seasons . the winner of the pvp battle can take fame or items from the loser . the game features an integrated chat system which is available only after completing a basic test of english grammar and spelling . there are many chat channels , including a channel in which all chat must follow the syllabic conventions of english haiku . most of the chat channels are moderated ; those who violate the chat rules are banned . players can also send messages and gift packages to each other in - game , and the official kingdom of loathing forums are another active venue for discussion among players . upon reaching level 3 , characters may join a clan , a band of cooperating characters . a clan has a clan hall which can be furnished with beneficial equipment as well as a clan stash for sharing useful items . clan members can chat with each other in a private chat channel . in 2008 , a multiplayer dungeon was added which allows clan members to raid cooperatively in , the underground city of hobos . eurogamer likened to world of warcraft instances . additional clan dungeons have since been added , including the , , and the limited - time haunted sorority house . players can buy a store in the mall of loathing and sell their character 's items to other players . direct trading between two players is also possible , and in the trade chat channel users can auction items and advertise shops . this functionality has created a complex in - game economy which author ted friedman , in his book electric dreams : computers in american culture , described as " vibrant " . the kingdom of loathing economy was the subject of an academic study , economics in the kingdom of loathing : analysis of virtual market data in 2011 . character classes players choose from six classes when they create a character . each class has various items that characters obtain by completing class - specific quests . characters also receive non - tradable class - dependent items as a reward for completing harder ascensions . the classes can be split into groups based on the primary character attribute associated with them . muscle classes : the two muscle classes are seal and turtle tamer . muscle classes depend on strength and fighting ability . a character 's max hp is determined by his / her muscle , and muscle classes gain an innate + 50 % boost to their max mysticality classes : the classes are and . gameplay for classes is focused on spellcasting and the use of magic . a character 's max mp is determined by his / her mysticality , and mysticality classes gain an innate + 50 % to their max mp . moxie classes : the moxie classes , disco bandit and accordion thief , use charm and dexterity to achieve success . familiars familiars are creatures that can accompany players in combat , performing ( usually ) helpful actions . familiars are often instrumental in the completion of quests . familiars possess many abilities ; for example , a sabre - toothed lime attacks monsters , a leprechaun grants extra meat after combat , and a hovering sombrero increases stat gains from combat . some familiars , such as the ninja pirate zombie robot , are very difficult to acquire . ascension ascension is a feature that allows characters to start the game over and play through it again from the beginning , similar to a new game plus feature . this feature becomes available after the game 's final quest is completed . players who ascend have their character 's experience levels reset to one , but they retain their currency and items . ascending players can also choose to make their ascension more difficult by taking on various restrictions , such as not being able to eat or drink , in exchange for special rewards . in addition , the game features a leaderboard system which allows players to see one another 's ascension speeds and compete for the fastest ascensions . plot and setting the player takes on the role of an adventurer who is tasked with solving problems and killing monsters in a fantasy - based kingdom . the game is humorous in nature , and most quests , battles and individual item descriptions include jokes , witticisms , or references to popular culture . many quests parody the tropes found in other role - playing games . the premise is that the naughty sorceress has captured and " " ( imprisoned in a prism ) the kingdom 's ruler , king ralph xi . the ultimate objective of the game is to defeat the naughty sorceress and free king ralph . in king ralph 's absence , most of the power in the kingdom of loathing is held by the council of loathing , which gives quests to characters as they increase in level , with the final quest given when the character has reached level 13 and finished the other quests . players can also unlock quests from other sources , some of which are available only after ascending . development zack johnson , the game 's creator , developed several games before kingdom of loathing but did not feel that they were good enough to release online . deciding that he was taking the games he created too seriously , johnson then set himself the challenge of creating one within a week and publishing the result online . the result was more of a joke than a game , and the initial content including classes and even the name of the game were stream of consciousness . the game was released in early 2003 , and johnson soon invited his childhood friend josh nite to contribute content as a writer and designer . within a year , 300 , 000 player accounts had been created , far exceeding johnson and nite 's expectations ; johnson has referred to the game 's success as " a never ending series of " . in 2008 , the game had between 100 , 000 and 150 , 000 regular players . in the game 's early days , johnson would work on the game during breaks while at work , but eighteen months or so after launch , the game was bringing in enough money for johnson to quit his day job as a programmer and develop the game full - time . he then began to pay nite for his work and after approximately two years hired two more developers . there are currently eight full - time employees working on kingdom of loathing , as well as three other employees who are working on a separate game . the game 's creative process is fluid and loosely structured . according to johnson , " at this point , i provide the overall direction . i do about a quarter of the writing , a quarter of the coding , and almost all of the artwork . " the bulk of the writing is done by nite , who also contributes design ideas , while two other developers , known in the game as riff and , work on writing , design , and coding . according to nite , the game 's writing style owes itself to a humorous email exchange between himself and johnson that began when the two separated after high school . these emails " helped us develop the shared comedic voice that kol 's written in " . the game 's developers cite text - based games such as zork and legend of the red dragon as creative influences , and nite has compared the game to the choose your own adventure series of children 's books . the game has been in open beta since its initial release , and is continuously being worked on . new content is released weekly or monthly , and there is also unique holiday - themed content every christmas , known as . occasionally , the developers stage world events such as the gray plague , which was similar to the corrupted blood incident in world of warcraft . in november 2014 , nite was laid off from asymmetric publications . business model kingdom of loathing is advertising - free and does not charge subscription fees . maintenance and development of the game is supported primarily through donations and players who donate us $ 10 to the game receive a powerful item known as a mr. accessory . mr. accessories can be equipped to give stat boosts or spent in the " mr. store " to buy powerful items ( including special monthly items ) . mr. accessories and mr. store items may be traded freely between players . according to an interview with zack johnson from 2010 , johnson originally established the mr. accessory revenue model as " kind of an afterthought " , but it became lucrative enough to allow him to work on the game full - time and eventually to hire several permanent employees . community kingdom of loathing has been praised for its welcoming and active player community . one of the most unusual aspects of the community is the large number of female players : according to johnson , approximately 40 % of players are female . fans often gather at both official conventions , run by asymmetric , and unofficial player - organized meet - ups , including the annual event . players support the game by writing scripts to perform various in - game functions , using greasemonkey , java , perl , and lua , and have also developed a player - run wiki which offers puzzle solutions and walkthroughs . longtime player and rapper mc is active in the community and included a kingdom of loathing - themed song on his 2010 album zero day . brett bixler , founder of the educational gaming commons at pennsylvania state university , has hypothesized that the kingdom of loathing community is successful because it accounts for richard bartle 's model of player personality types in massively multiplayer online roleplaying games , creating a balanced gameplay system that appeals to a wide variety of players . researcher martin oliver addressed similar issues in a 2009 study of the kingdom of loathing player community , " playing roles in the mmorpg kingdom of loathing " . a web - based radio station , radio kol , is the " official unofficial " radio station of kol . it is a 24 / 7 dj - hosted station , with volunteer djs drawn from the kol user base . twice weekly , development team members host shows on radio kol in which they discuss the state of the game and answer questions from players . reception critical response for kingdom of loathing has been generally positive , with consistent praise for the game 's humor and surrealism . the gameplay and content have been praised as " well designed " and having a " huge amount of content " . matt gallant of gizmodo said that the game is " actually very full - featured " with " a lot of content " , and according to worlds in motion , " kingdom of loathing isn 't just a great game , but a really unique and interesting mmo . " jay is games called it " a ' must play ' game for rpg fans who want something different " . gamezebo criticized the interface as well , calling it " clunky " , and several reviewers expressed concern that the game might be confusing to new players .