GMail really does know what I’m looking for: today it popped up an ad for Starport: Galactic Empires.  It’s a free, 2D, massively multiplayer space trading game.

Is it good?  I can’t tell yet.  It appears that the primary way to make money is by lugging equipment around space.  There aren’t a ton of players logged on at any time, so your chances of getting jacked while running the cargo are pretty low.  That part of the game looks like mindless FedExing.

I’d dismiss it out of hand, but there are also player corporations and colonies, which look like the heart of the game.  There’s a bit of a SimPlanet game with the colonies, and they can be attacked by other corporations.  My next step is to join a corporation, and see what people do for fun in this game.

If it turns out I do like the game, I can get a head start (and skip some of the FedExing) by handing over my credit card: you can buy a pretty good ship, extra fuel, and character respecs with real cash.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Game Discussion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.