Back in the 2000s, RuneScape made a name for itself as an early massively multiplayer online (MMO) game which could be played in a web browser without downloading anything to your computer.
It grew rapidly through word-of-mouth thanks in part to its mix of social interaction, accessible gameplay and humour.
Twenty five years after it first came out, it is now two different games.
There’s RuneScape (which fans often refer to as RS3), a modern take on the classic game.
Then there’s Old School RuneScape, which looks and feels like the original – perhaps because it began with a snapshot of the game exactly as it was in 2007, and has since grown with new areas, characters and things to do.
And over the two-and-a-half decades since its initial launch online, the game has fallen behind other MMOs. It’s estimated that World of Warcraft is played by more than a million people every day, while Final Fantasy XIV is up there, too.
But the game’s maker Jagex has not forgotten its roots.
“There’s a term called ‘RuneScapiness’ which is a little bit hard to nail down,” game designer Molly Mason told the BBC.
“But I think part of that at least is the British humour that’s reflected in our games.
“The Monty Pythonesque, that type of stuff.”
