The tiniest MMO
PointlessQuest is a minimalist massively multiplayer online game developed for the Playdate handheld console. Despite its tiny player base and simplified mechanics, it maintains core MMO features like quests and social interaction.
Why it matters
It showcases the creative potential of niche hardware and the enduring appeal of multiplayer gaming in unconventional formats.
At its peak, around 12 million people subscribed to World of Warcraft so that they could explore the realm of Azeroth together. The audience for PointlessQuest is quite a bit smaller. On launch day, the game hit a peak of 15 concurrent players… and no, that sentence isn’t missing a word. Then again, basically everything about PointlessQuest is intentionally tiny. It’s a game that was developed as a side project by designer Gareth Williams, and it’s available on just about the least likely platform to house an MMO: the Playdate. Yet it has garnered a small group of hardcore players who are working together to burn through the early game experience. “The support from the community has been and continues to be amazing,” Williams tells me.
The article is a neutral piece of gaming journalism.
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