What are MUDs and why are people still playing them?
A MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) is a multiplayer text-based game. Players send text commands like attack goblin or north, and the game responds in pure text.
MUDs come in many genres, but in this article I’ll focus on the hack-n-slash variety — games where you kill monsters for XP and enjoy watching your character’s numbers grow.
Surprisingly, people still play MUDs in 2026. Some of them are even available on Steam (BatMUD and MUME).
Why do people still play them?
Accessibility for the visually impaired — For many blind and visually impaired players, text-based games are one of the few truly accessible options.
Hardcore depth. MUDs often have complex mechanics, require digging through wikis and spreadsheets, and don’t forgive mistakes. This attracts a dedicated audience that enjoys real challenge.
Text isn’t a problem for everyone. This is clear from the popularity of text-heavy single-player games like Warsim, and the fact that Dwarf Fortress had a huge following even during its pure ASCII era with a terrible UI.
Habit and social connections. Many players have been in the same MUD for 10–20+ years and have made real friends there.
Programmer appeal. Text games are the easiest to automate and script. This draws people with a technical mindset (even though most MUDs prohibit or heavily restrict botting).
My Experience
My experience is pretty straightforward — for basically my entire gaming life, I’ve only played one MUD: SlothMUD.
This game has a special place in Russia. Back in the 90s, “Encyclopedias of Computer Games for IBM PC” were extremely popular. It was in one of these books that a guy named Sergey Vodoleev introduced Russian gamers to SlothMUD. Because of that article, the game always had a large Russian-speaking community.
In my hometown Novosibirsk, at least 10 people played it, and many of us knew each other in real life.
Of course, the player base has shrunk a lot over time.
Pros of SlothMUD:
- Fundamentally different playstyles for each class. Playing a Cleric feels completely different from playing a Thief.
- Massive amount of content. Leveling a character from zero to max takes at least two years of serious play.
- Multiclass system. You pick one main class, but you can level others and eventually gain most abilities from all classes (except prime-only skills).
Cons of SlothMUD:
- Broken balance. Changes made in recent years have made players way too powerful. This is exactly why I eventually quit.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! If you’ve ever played MUDs, drop a comment and tell me which one and what your experience was like.
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