TROVE: MMO Review, Free but is it worth the download?

It's been awhile since I've played an MMO. Let's just say my lifetime subscription to Lord of the Rings proved to be unnecessary once we added a second child to the mix. Between blogging, the occasional roleplaying or board gaming session, and the approximately bazillion hours I spend doing mom things, there is seldom time to play games on the computer. Specifically I can't consistently find time to play, ad with most MMOs consistency is key. Basically once I became a mom anything that had a monthly subscription fee seemed like a bad bet. I feel guilty paying and not playing for a month or two, and as soon as I cancel the subscription that's when I find myself with time on my hands and an urge to play. It's frustrating. Add in the fact that when I do get to play the game invariably needs to update, and by the time it's done updating I no longer have the desire or the time to actually play (sometimes this takes over night, and yes my internet sucks, thank you for asking). The end result is I had given up on playing MMOs, as playing anything on a consistent basis just didn't seem to work at this stage in my life.

All of which is to say I had mixed feeling about trying out Trove, because, well, it's an MMO, and, depressing thought that it is, I had been thinking my MMO days were behind me.

Adventure, explore, and create in Trove, the acclaimed voxel RPG set in a massive universe of online worlds. Whether hunting treasure in far-off lands or building realms of your own, it’s never been this good to be square!

Trove has a brightly coloured, chunky, pixelated, art style. Looking at the still shots of the game I wasn't quite sold, but having played I find I actually like the chunky retro style. It's cute and quirky, sort of like the game overall.

It was quick to install and quick to update (the entire process took under half an hour). I suspect that has to do with the chunky block graphic style. It stands to reason there's less to store vs. the crazy hi-def graphics most MMOs are going in for now-a-days. To me this is a good thing. It means if I'm not able to play it for a bit I won't have to invest half a day into updating the game.

I like that Trove is blockish and the violence is abstract, this means my kids can watch me play (I cringe at letting them watch hyper realistic violence, a.k.a most console games). Of course having them watch is a mixed blessing. They press in close around me and nudge my elbows as I'm trying to maneuver, until I lose my patience and say "You guys have to give me some space, or else leave the room!" Geesh. They were entranced with the game, it was total love at first site as they yelled out, "It looks like Minecraft!", "It looks like Lego!", "It looks awesome!", "Can we play?", "Are you mining right now?", "Did you just kill that spider thing?" (I haven't let them play yet, but suspect it's just a matter of time until I cave.)

The game guides you through learning to play via a series of tutorial style quests. The dungeons are atypical, not just your standard crawl through dark tunnels fare. For example for one beginner's dungeon I climbed a giant tree fort to take out the "Fungal King.", and the far reaching views out over the landscape from the height of the fort were actually pretty impressive.

One of the neat aspects to this game is you gather bricks and use them to craft things as well as to customize your home base, or cornerstone. What I found particularly nifty is that your base isn't tied to any one geographic area, but moves around with you and can be summoned at any time to any empty lot. The ability to drop bricks pretty much anywhere at any time also adds a puzzle element to exploring the world.

The biggest surprise here was the music and sound effects. Given the simple blockish visuals I expected the music to sound like something from my NES days. I was shocked to find a decent soundtrack, well done music and sound effects that add thematically to the game. For example, leave the green fields and wander into the monster infested mountains and the music goes from chirpy to foreboding, but it a cute, cartoony way that is in keeping with the overall tone of the game.

However what I liked most about Trove was the fact that it is easy to step in and out of. Granted I haven't gotten into higher level play, so maybe things will change as I level up, but at beginner levels I found the game incredibly easy to play in shorter bursts, easy to drop out of at a moments notice, and easy to get back in to when I had time to return to the game. Whenever you log back in you'll find yourself in the main hub, hop through a portal to head to a randomly generated questing world. Easy peasy. The game also does a good job of minimizing trudging around from place to place, for example when you finish a dungeon a portal will appear to bring you back to where you started, and also at any time you can drop back to the hub by simply holding down the H key.

The player classes are also atypical. It's not just fighter, mage, thief and variations thereof. For my first character class I chose Pirate Captain (the avatar even has a wee parrot following you around, and you can toss the parrot off with a cannon to do some backup attacking -- very cute). In total there are a dozen character classes available, ranging from some fairly classical archetypes like knight and gunslinger to more original options like the Candy Barbarian or the Fae Trickster. You only get to make one character, but that character can swap between classes (though you do need to purchase those additional classes with in game currency). Also, cosmetically speaking your characters are incredibly customizable. If you play around with it for a bit you can come up with some rather unique avatars.

The game is free to play, with plenty of options to pay real world money for upgrades, which range from costumes to power ups. There is also the option to be a "Patron" of the game and pay a fee for 15 or 30 days access to a range of upgrades and abilities. In the past I've been really leery about "freemium" games, but I now I actually find I prefer this to paying a straight up monthly fee.

Overall, I would seriously recommend giving Trove a try. It's quick and easy to download, and free to play, which safely places it in the "What have you got to lose?" category. It's available to play on both PC and MAC. The game play is easy to learn, and the game makes it simple to hop in and out, if like me your gaming needs to work around time constraints and interruptions. I suspect I'll be playing this one on and off for the next long while. If you give it a try let me know what you think of it.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post brought to you by Blog Meets Brand. My words and opinions are as always my own.