Evony

Let's face facts. Sex sells. However far we think we have come on the evolutionary ladder we're here to further the species. Increasingly clever adverts subtly use sex to sell a product and in the end we purchase the car because we want the 2.4 kids or beautiful partner.

Evony's advertising strategy is less than subtle. Yes initially we had pictures from the game but quickly they became pictures of knights and ladies. Ladies with low cut tops. Pictures just concentrating on the upper halves of their torso and most recently just a cleavage shot in a brassiere (a device created in the 19th Century not the games medieval times). The point is Evony is about as sexy as one of the pens you can buy at the seaside; the ones which where the black dress slides off to reveal the naked woman when tipped.

Would such an unsubtle advertising strategy work in today's modern gamer environment? Well with hundreds of servers boasting millions of users you'd have to say yes but that's not the end of the story.

Evony is actually a multilayered gaming experience in the style of a, "basic", Settlers. A newly started server will give you a fresher experience and more options for development. Initially the game gives you a week of freedom before you can interact with other players or the environment and this is a good time to build your settlement into some vague working format.

Training takes the form of quests. You open the quest menu and it explains, clearly and simply, what you need to undertake. Initially you're asked to build your population and creating cottages adds an enticement for people to flood your way. People will come anyway but cottages help. Following quests will instruct you to build up areas, appoint a mayor, upgrade buildings, train a hero and many other things. It also throws freebies at you like sweets so you can add upgrades or hold them for later. It's easy to spend your increased production early but you could do well to keep it back in case trouble comes over the hills later.

There really is a lot you can do and you will quickly find yourself engrossed in all the middle management duties you'd expect to run a thriving community. Grain production down reduces morale - send them all off for a good pray and blessing. River floods - time to build defences. Armies attack - time to build walls and upgrade troops. The list goes on and on.

Every so often you have to avoid the plugs to buy upgrades with real cash but at this point the game doesn't suffer from the high degree of inter-player bullying that Travian suffers from necessitating purchase. Why? Well two reasons. First the high degree of micro-management means concentrating on how to keep your community going at a healthy level and secondly there are less people on the servers than you initially thought.

Yes starting as number two million plus in the rankings may seem a little daunting but build your first cottage and you'll realise that many people who signed up have abandoned the game due to lack of cleavage. This doesn't mean no-one's playing but makes interaction more appealing and alliances steadier, although the lands are awash with ghost towns.

Evony isn't perfect. It suffers from imbalances but the general principle is good. Its community more dedicated to playing than kicking the new guy. This will undoubtedly change as the game develops and the critically impressive figures of gamers online mean advertising on their site is a premium. The message is to start now and enjoy before it becomes too popular.