Godville, a hassle free RPG game for Windows Phone 8

Godville may be one of the more unique games available for your Windows Phone 8 devices. It is labeled a Zero Player Game (ZPG) that has the elements of a Role Playing Game (RPG) but not the hassle of having to deal with waiting for other players to take a turn, manage level ups, and all the other work involved in playing such games.

With Godville you play the role of the local god and the hardest task is probably finding a name for your hero, who does all the heavy lifting.

Sure there are a few interactions you can have with your hero but for the most part, Godville is a sit back, relax and do very little type game. Godville is an acquired taste and it takes a little time to get a handle on, but if you give it a try Godville may surprise you.

When you first launch Godville you are tasked with naming your god and hero, as well as choosing their gender. You'll get a confirmation if the name is available as you type it in and while this is basically a solo game, the Godville network generating things likely can't have duplicate names. The game has been available over on iOS and Android so finding a name not already in use, may be the hardest part of Godville.

Once you have the names in order Godville has a handful of main pages where you can monitor your hero's progress. You have...

• Diary Page: This is your hero's journal where all their thoughts and actions are recorded. The page also lists the milestone level and any progress the hero is making.
• Hero Page: This page lists all your hero's statistics such as age, personality, aura, monsters killed, etc.
• Stuff Page: Your hero's inventory.
• Friends Page: If you know of anyone playing Godville, you can invite their hero over for a play date.
• Pantheons Page: Once your hero makes it to level 7 pantheons become available and here is where your's will be listed.
• Menu Page: Here is where you will find the game's settings, help section, access to the Godwiki page and the ideabox. Settings cover notifications and account settings (password, email, timezone, etc.).

At the top of the screen, throughout the various pages, you will have your hero's health stats, gold and a progress update (the question mark). At the bottom of the screen are button controls to bless your hero, speak to your hero through the voice of god (they don't always listen), and smite your hero. These actions are limited during the day but as you progress through the game a restore button will appear where you can re-charge your godly powers.

You can interact as much or as little as you want with your hero. The diary entries can be rather humorous on their own but if you want to stir things up, you can. If you're away from your Windows Phone, you can also access your hero only at Godville's website.

Godville does take a little time to get used to and discover all the ins and outs of the game. The one nice thing about Godville is that you really don't have to do anything. Your hero does all the heavy lifting and it's hard for you to screw anything up (unless you want to). There is a "How to be a god for dummies" guide in the FAQ part of the Help Section that can be useful in grasping the concept the game.

Overall, the text based game Godville won't appeal to everyone but as a free game, it's really worth trying. Give it a day or two to run it's course and it's not like you've got to give it much attention. I've gotta admit the game's grown on me just a little and I found myself returning to the game just to see what my hero was up to.

Godville is a free game for your Windows Phone 8 devices that you can find here in the Windows Phone Store.