The graphics of Kingdom of Loathing are by far the worst I have seen since I started reviewing sites. All the images on the site are low quality stick figures. Even some of the stick figures on the game seem to be a bit fuzzy, perhaps from saving them as a file not meant to uphold the quality of the art.

The layout is no better than the graphics on the site. You have a sidebar on the left which holds are your character’s health such as stats, drunkenness, and etc. The bar on the right has the current news, or if you choose, the chat box. At the top you have your links to your account settings, main map, campground, and etc. Everything is disorganized and tended to be fairly hard for me to find things.

I am yet to see how the site is still surviving after five years of using stick figures as there art. The site is just yet another one of those repetitive battle/RPG sites that have very little to do other than fight a monster.

The ultimate goal of Kingdom of Loathing is to defeat the Naughty Sorceress and release King Ralph XI from his “imprisment.” At the beginning of the game you are told a story of how the Naughty Sorceress captured King Ralph and locked him in a prism. After the disappearance of King Ralph the Council of Loathing took power over the town. Before you have the option of fighting the Naughty Sorceress you must first increase your level to the highest possible, level 13.

To increase your level you must work on quests. Quests are assigned to you by meeting people throughout the town and also by the Council of Loathing. Quests involve battling monsters such as “Ooh, I Think I Smell a Bat.” This quest involves traveling to the Bat Hole in the Nearby Plains and slaying the Boss Bat. Another type of quest involves collecting items such as “Out of Your Gourd.”  In this quest you are asked by the Captain of the Gourd to retrieve five spider webs from the Back Alley.

Pretty much everything you do on the site involves defeating some kind of opponent. If you need food try your luck at beating a goblin. If you need new weapons you can either beat a monster or pickpocket the monster during battle. You do have the ability to buy items from the shops in town, but in order to have meat (the site currency) you must first battle yet another monster.

Kingdom on Loathing does not ask your age during registration, meaning that users of any age have access to the forums, chat, and messaging. They do have features such as a profanity block, blocking messages from certain users, and you must also pass a test before you can access the chat features of the site. These things are meant to ensure safety on the site, but from what I see some of them have little use.

When you first start out in the game your profanity filter is automatically turned on, shouldn’t that mean that all profanity should be blocked? I went to the chat system to ask a question, since the site does such a fantastic job of explaining things, as soon as I joined the chat I noticed that someone was asking the other people on the chat if they knew of “any cheap prostitutes in the Dallas area.” I understand that profanity filters do not catch everything, which is why I stuck around for a bit. About ten minutes later the same user was back again. At this time he stated that he was “still horny” and that “some stupid son of a bitch” was getting on his nerves. I do believe the filter should have caught some of this. I don’t see much point in having a filter on a site if it does not work.

Before you are allowed access to the chat sections of the site you must first take a literacy test. The test asks you to type a sentence exactly as it is shown into the box below. As far as I am concerned this only proves your ability to copy and paste. It seems to me that if they would have a feature like this they would at least prevent copying and pasting, but I guess that wasn't important to them.

The gameplay of the site is quite simple. Find a location with “(1)” next to its name, meaning there is an activity for you to do. Go to that location and some sort of monster will then pop up. You can either attack with the item you were given at the start of the game (I had an accordion), use an item such as a can lid, or run away. Each method of attack has a specific amount of health it takes from your opponent. Just as you take health from your opponent, your opponent can also attack you. In the end, one of you dies. If you die you are sent to your campground to rest and regain your health. If you opponent dies you are rewarded with meat, the occasional item, and sometimes stats such as “muscleness.”

You can also obtain pets throughout the game, known as familiars. These pets can help you during battle. Sometimes they can attack your opponent, or even help you to regain your health. When you first start out you are given a pet mosquito. Your mosquito pet can suck blood from your opponents and inject it into you. Later on in the game you can be given new familiars by doing quests. Each familiar has its own special abilities and benefits to your character.

Aside from the user looking for prostitutes the users of Kingdom of Loathing are very friendly and helpful. The chat box and forums were constantly filled, with an average of 250 people at those particular sections of the site at a given time. When I had questions about the site I received answers promptly.

One definite drawback to the community aspect of Kingdom of Loathing is that there is not a way to contact a staff member directly. There are also not any staff members watching the chat box, which contributes to the conversations that thrive there. If for some reason you feel a member should be banned you must go to the off-site forums and file a complaint. After that it takes quite a few days for anything to be done.

You can also join groups of people to create clans. Clans each have their individual chat system, with the clan owner appointing moderators to watch the chat. Many clans have off-site forums and websites, which proves to be yet another safety issue. Clans can hold contests giving away items and meat. Clans just have a chat box and a member list, along with the link to the clan website.