It’s been a couple of weeks since I first starting playing the HTML-based survival horror game with a substantial group from Evil Avatar, but I have to admit, I’m still having fun. By this point with most games I play, I’ve already sucked all the entertainment value out of it and am ready to ditch it for something else. But not this.

I even logged in a few times over the past couple of days while in Phoenix. I would check the status of the building I was in, check the activity, stock up on FAKs, and then check out the status of our current squad operations on our private forums. If I had some AP available, I would run around to nearby squad HQs and see if anyone required any healing.

There are two qualities of this game that make it so appealing to me. One, the ability to come and go from the game at any point I choose. Unless our squad has a scheduled operation to accomplish, I am free to do what I want, at my own convenience. I can log in at any hour of the day and assist where needed. Log out, and then come back later and help out some more. It’s based entirely on my schedule and availability, and for a family gamer such as myself, that kind of passive timetable is not only refreshing, it’s a necessity.

The other quality is the community at EvAv that has gathered around this game. The EvAv user base is a fairly great community in and of itself, but the community of UD players is absolutely amazing. Torrefaction – the EvAv UD ringleader and instigator – is a phenomenal operations commander, setting achievable goals and making smart decisions about command structure and group objectives. The ability to corral any large group of disparate players into any semblance of order is commendable, but to herd this particular group of cats takes some godlike patience and understanding. Torrefaction may not have necessarily built the community, but he has definitely given the community a purpose. And that’s what makes playing the game so much fun.

The funny thing about this game is that it was designed to be played mostly away from the UD site itself. Sure, you perform your actions on the UD site. But performing actions is largely a result of spending a lot of time planning and coordinating with your teammates on another site. That’s what helps build the community. And it seems as though the logic of the game dictates that you do this in order to be successful.

So, if you haven’t tried it out yet, I suggest you give Urban Dead a go. But if you’re going to try it, you should definitely attempt to hook up with a larger group. That’s the aspect where this game truly shines.