From the best-of-both-worlds department comes massively low tech massively multiplayer online gaming. Now, I have been an outspoken critic of the MMORPG genre, second jobs, and all that… I have found a happy medium with a few sites I would like to share with you now. The first is found at urbandead.com, the second at nationstates.net (and now the beta of nationstates2.com).  You can read more about them after the break!

Urban Dead is a self-proclaimed “Massively Multi-Player Web-Based Zombie Apocalypse” with over 1 million (reported) subscribers. The premise is simple; you are a human or zombie in the town of Malton and your goal is survival… or slaughter. You start out like many games: fresh, aloof, and utterly useless to those around you. As you find ways to make yourself useful… say, by killing things, you gain experience to level up. See, it’s an easy formula to follow. With the limit of action points you have per day (regaining 1 per 30 minutes, which you can stockpile to a maximum of 50) you can get your game on and then get back to work. Now, the benefit there-in is that you can still have a life, and play an MMO.

Nation States gives you the opportunity to take over a small fledgling nation and run it the way you want to. Sick of the way politicians run things in the real world? Try your hand at it! The game presents an average of 2 “issues” per day for you to decide the outcome. Once you make your choices, the day goes on, the laws are set, and things change (usually for the worse). The humor of media “spin” takes off when you see the reports of what changes your decisions ultimately create. Nation States 2 adds alliances, trade, economy and even conflicts to the mix.

Give them a try, or if you already play one or the other, let me know your opinions!