Fun, fast lil' multiplayer games online?

[Narz]

Hi. Any recommendations for fun but quick (60 minutes or less average gametime) games to play online. More complex than Risk ideally but less complex than Civ (necessarily given the time-scale).

 

[Maniacal]

Strategy only? Real time? Turn based?

 

[Narz]

Whatever comes to mind.

 

[Maniacal]

Team Fortress 2 is free to play, low requirements, not neither too easy nor too complex (although Valve is adding in new weapons every month now >_<). As with most multiplayer FPS games you don't need to spend more than an hour at a time on it. Even simpler is Lead & Gold, its not free but its pretty cheap on Steam too.

I don't really play any other type of game online, I prefer RTS, TBS, Adventure and RPG to be singleplayer, so I don't have any other suggestions.

EDIT: All Serious Sam HD titles are 66% off on Steam today too. And on GamersGate their Summer Sale is still going on with a lot of varied titles on sale.

 

[GoodGame]

World of Tanks (FPS/tactical thinking, tanks vs. tank combat, paying is optional, battles never last longer than 15minutes).

Catan Online (I sure you know about it).

CivWorld (persistent lite game of Civ, login about 1-3 times per day for inputs).

Pogo.com (misc parlor games, multiplayer)

eRepublik web-browser game MMO RPG/strat, possibly as strategic as Risk.

Galactic Legion Facebook web-browser MMO RPG/strat, kind of like the old BBS TradeWars game but without an actual map.

Investopedia play the stock market through a simulator (we have a thread in the regular off-topic.

NESing

The above I've actually played.

I'm interested in trying: Age of Empires Online, Trade Wars Rising (true rebirth of the classic BBS TradeWars), Stronghold Kingdoms, Lord of Ultima, Puzzle Pirates, etc..

 

[Maniacal]

I haven't played it (dunno why) but World of Tanks is a good suggestion.

 

[MajKira]

action chat room if GM would be intresting

 

[Maniacal]

DotA and its derivatives typically play half to whole hours. Just try to bring a friend because trash talking is intense.

He wants a game that is less than an hour and isn't overly complex, not one that takes an hourish, has someo f the WORST communities in online gaming, is complex to play/master, and demands you do everything really well or your teammates WILL rage at you. Although League of Legends is free unless you want more characters.

 

[MobBoss]

LoL also has the benefit of having some characters that are quite effective, but fairly simple in execution. Not a bad little game to be honest for being free and all, but you can sometimes run into those marathon games that go back and forth as different toons level up and the meta game can go back and forth.

 

[Say_my_name]

LoL is generally less than an hour per match, especially if you play 3v3 instead of 5v5. It's also the least complex of the DotA-likes. Not exactly "easy" to pick up, but it's the easiest of the bunch.

Btw. most regular DotA/HoN matches last less than an hour, just fyi.

 

[B4tman]

http://conquerorgame.com/index2.php

Easy to learn, but far deeper than Risk.

 

[SuperJay]

It's not a strategy/RTS kind of game, but may I humbly recommend Terraria? It's only $10 on Steam (as low as $2.50 if you get it on sale), and you can get hundreds of hours of game time out of it. It supports multiplayer and is only as demanding on your time as you want it to be - you can play for 30-60 mins and set it down whenever you need to, assuming you don't get completely addicted.

It's a retro-style 2D open-world sandbox game. You explore, fight monsters, get phat lewts, mine ores and gather other resources, craft weapons and armor (and furniture and potions and food and...) fight bosses, explore, fight monsters, get more lewts... etc etc.

Here's the trailer, check it out and see what you think. And if anyone does get this game and wants to play MP - or just wants a few freebie items to help out in the early game - let me know, I can host.


Link to video.

 

[GoodGame]

Problem with terraria is it's very addicting, but also hard to find the multiplayer PvP content. Also not a lot of strategy per se, though I bet there might be mod potential for a strategy PvP version.

 

[GoodGame]

Also tried Allies and Empires a "Farmville" game with a battle format and slick UI. Supposedly people claim it is like Risk, but I don't quite see that yet (haven't gotten deep into the many surfaces of the game). Basically MMO-strat like eRepublik, but not thematically real-world.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/229141/zyngas_new_facebook_game_empires_and_allies_goes_live.html

 

[SuperJay]

Problem with terraria is it's very addicting, but also hard to find the multiplayer PvP content. Also not a lot of strategy per se, though I bet there might be mod potential for a strategy PvP version.

I don't think PVP or even Strategy games were requested in the OP. Narz specified fun and accessible without a lot of demand on your time, and I think Terraria fits all those criteria. (You definitely CAN put tons of time into it, or you can log in for a half an hour and kill some stuff, work on your latest building project, look for Sky Islands, fight a boss, craft some Ale or food, etc etc.