Back in 2016 the 2-D retro-styled MMO Mirage Realms crossed our notice; it’s a single person project that sought to take an old school RPG and turn it into a full-size MMO for Android and PC players. The game entered open alpha testing on Google play that same year, and describes itself as a mashup of the dev’s favorite titles such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, World of Warcraft, and Harvest Moon.
Mirage Realms blips back onto our radar in 2021 because the game’s developer Fhox introduced the title to the MMORPG subreddit, outlining its feature set and noting that making the game is now his full-time job.
“To cut a long story short, I decided if there was ever a time to really try and make something, this was it, so I worked hard for a few years to put myself in a financial position to quit my job and really kick this thing’s ass. The ass kicking commenced this January when I started my own company and have essentially been unburying myself from the mountain of technical debt my bedroom coding put me in ever since.”
Fhox notes that the game is “very grind heavy,” with most of the gameplay all about “kill the things, get the EXP, loot the items, explore new areas, kill stronger things, loot better items, etc.” He also notes that the majority of the game’s interest at a high level is its open world PvP, which becomes available at level 25. XP loss and level loss are penalties for death in PvP, so most players in the higher end level bracket engage in war or diplomacy.
For those who are curious about this one, the subreddit synopsis has all the details you could want, along with the game’s official site.
