Among Facebook users, the rapid proliferation of gaming and social applications has been a contentious issue to say the least. The gulf between those who love using applications and those who hate applications is wide and bitter.
To be fair, the quality control on applications by Facebook has been extremely poor, with a massive amount of poorly conceived and programmed apps clogging the networking site.
Knighthood, on the surface, seems to be just like any other Facebook war-game application and certainly doesn’t seem very noteworthy to the novice. For players who get past the initial rules and concepts of the game, a deep world of strategy and community is uncovered that makes for an extremely addictive experience.
Knighthood is a social capture and control game that uses the people in your friends list much like pieces in a game of chess. After inviting a stable of friends, the goal of the player is to steal, and defend, people captured from other player’s kingdoms.
Essentially, the goal is to protect your friends and conquests while breaking down enemy defenses to steal more properties.
While it may not sound earth shattering in description, the game play is utterly addictive. The way in which the mechanics of Facebook friends being used as a resource and an army creates a synergy between the application and its environment that is simply unmatched by anything else on the website.
Since Knighthood is essentially a rudimentary MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game, it stands to reason that it has just as large of a passionate community as any good MMO does.
The rabid community can be evidenced in full force there: the desperate recruiting for more vassals, endless discussion on the minutia and ethics of game mechanics and other philosophical discussions about the game.
Knighthood is still in Beta and is not yet a final product, but it has come through most of its growing pains and, even in it’s unfinished form, is still a marvel of development.
Knighthood proves that games don’t need to be flashy and big-budget to be compelling and engrossing.
What seems to be simple math mechanics at first unfolds into a vast world of strategy and possibilities for those that choose to dive in and learn it. Better yet, it’s the type of game that can be played in the 10 minutes before class or for stretches of hours at a time, depending on your schedule and level of addiction.
Getting angry Facebook message from strangers for stealing their brother or son or wife is also very compelling. If brute force isn’t your type of game, however, there’s always the road of diplomacy and smooth talk to build your kingdom. The avenues of approach for game play allow this game a depth that no other application on Facebook can even come close to.
Knighthood shines in comparison with a dynamic, thought provoking, and open-ended game that opens the player to a global community that can lead to some unexpected friendships.
