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Free Games Directory - Play and download free online games » "Cantr II" Reviews

Cantr II 10 User Reviews

Cantr II is a multi-user, online, mostly text- and webbased simulation game whereby the whole social world is developed by the players. There is no prewritten history, no fixed economic or political system, no programmed money or predefined roles. You... more

6.36
93 Votes
24598 Hits

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Cantr II Reviews

Game... ?

(5/5) Reviewed by User: Solutions Maximus on Thu Aug 16 2007

Cantr II is the most amazing online experience I have ever had. The game is by far more than a game, it is an experience. Upon creation of an account, the player is allowed to create up to 15 characters that will be spread throughout the islands of Cantr. What one does with those characters is up to his imagination.

The game is relatively difficult for starting players as it is a complete culture shock to even seasoned MMORPG players. The game is highly set towards the aspect of creating a believable, interesting, imaginative character. Players are to role-play their characters with strictly in-game experience. The game community is often quite helpful to new players, but players that are ignorant of the game rules and requirements are not taken to so kindly. The Cantr community, for the most part, is highly loyal to the game.

Imagination is the limit for characters. There have been sea-faring ship captains, tyrannical town leaders and warlords, pious or corrupt religious leaders, and more.

When I started playing Cantr in mid-2004, I could not for the life of me get into it. The problem was, I was not understanding it. I quit for almost a year. When I rejoined in 2005, I saw the game more clearly. I became a food administrator for a small port town, I was a rebellious revolutionist, I was a traveling singer and poet, and more. I became addicted to Cantr and I have, as of this moment, never found another game to be as satisfying or interesting.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Reality

(5/5) Reviewed by User: Drakulya on Wed Nov 08 2006

Cantr, is to say the least, a realistic game depicting society and how it forms. Its slow paced, though multiple characters make up for that, and the main challange isn't who's got the most stuff, but who's the best RPer. The game has no levels, only heriditary style skills. I think the game has its short comings, such as the combat system, but they are in place so one person can't run around with a Claymore and kill EVERYONE. The game does have functioning societies, and I don't believe that trade is a MUST in the game. Yes, you trade here in there, and if you have lots of stone you can trade it for food. So on and so forth, but its not JUST trade. Armies have been erected by some leaders, towns have been run, and people live their 'lives' in Cantr. Since its free to play I think its worthy of looking into at the very least. You don't have to sing up, you can go to the Wiki (a link is on the main page) and check out whats actually in the game.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Cantr is not a game for the masses

(5/5) Reviewed by User: Seko on Sun Oct 15 2006

Since other people have mostly been concentrating on the mechanics, I shall concentrate on the social aspects here.

I would like to emphasize that most of the big players are intelligent people and the quality of roleplaying is high. If someone comes in sprouting chat speak ("sup d00ds? lol ne1 onlien?") they will be regarded as a lunatic and usually ignored or killed. All the interaction in game happens /strictly in character/, so you can easily get absorbed in your role and really be that person, not just a calculative player controlling a puppet.

Naturally every game has the bad eggs, the people who take the game too seriously and cancel their account or go whining on the forums if something unfortunate happens to their character. (I confess I've also been guilty of the latter at times.) But fortunately this sort of behaviour is rarely seen in game (exept for the obvious heart attacks when a player cancels their account). So if you get tired of the flame wars and bickering, just stop going to the forums for a while. But mostly we have a GREAT community, and although people sometimes lose their temper and storm out with slamming doors, they usually come back. - Since this is a very addictive game. The intensity of OOC reactions might actually prove how much this world means to us - it's more than a game, it's a second life - or a bunch of lives, depending on how you look at it.

Personally I've been playing Cantr for about 3 years and as far as I can remember, the longest time I've gone without checking was 3 days. Or maybe a week. Sometimes I've lost a whole night's sleep to intense roleplaying. I've been late from class due to checking events on my lunch break. Many times I've been crying my eyes out over ingame events, and far more often laughed at the witty dialogues both in game and off at #Cantr. - Actually, if you feel ambivalent about joining, you should stop by at our irc channel (the link is found on the site). Hopefully someone will be awake.

Be noted that newbies receive no special protection in game. If you spawn somewhere and break the local laws, you will most likely be punished swiftly, even more so if you act like a jackass.

There is no real gain in hitting a newbie, since people start with no resources. You kill a newspawn and all you get is a mauled corpse littering the beauty of your home town, an hour wasted in burying it, and some more in recovering from the tiredness. The skill boost is pretty much a joke (there's been lots of discussion concerning this) - So if your first character gets killed, that's not because you were easy prey, but most likely you came out as ignorant and distruptive and had to be eliminated before you would mess up the lives of those around you.

An easy tip to survival is "read the notes". In most populated places, there is an established government and a set of laws expected to be followed. (Different thing if you choose to play someone who's illiterate or mentally challenged - in such a case be sure to express it through emoting so that people realize it's a feat of the /character/, not the player.) Also read the background information, at least the article named "Your first Cantr day" that's found in our Wiki.

Much depends on how you act out. If you pick up everything you see and run then you can bet your sorry ass that people will be hostile. But if you show you're an intelligent person capable of playing characters with depth, not just extensions of your own personality, then we'll happily welcome you on board.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Takes only minutes a day...

(4/5) Reviewed by User: melbi on Thu Jan 05 2006

A few other reviewers have commented on the slowness of the game -- it can take days to do almost anything, but everyone playing is in the same boat. You can play many characters, so usually at least one has something interesting happening.

What is good about the slowness is that if you are busy in real life (like I am) you can still play the game.

One temptation that every succumbs to is having your characters help each other, but this is a no-no, and people do check...

The game is in many ways more like real life than other games, and this is both the appeal and the problem of Cantr. I mean, this is not a game that you win: eventually you will get old and die. Just like in real life, you have to decide what you're going to do with your life, and you have to solve the problem of feeding yourself, or you'll die of starvation. If you go on vacation, you have to figure out what your characters will do while you're away.

And all that is fun enough. There is also a discussion board that is very active, and is in some ways more interesting than the game. It is also where you hear about changes to the game, which are often controversial.

After some months of play, I left the game because the mechanics of it push you into trading. No matter what you do, someone always talks about trading with other villages, and in the end being a shopkeeper or trader just wasn't worth it to me.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful, did you?

I don't like Cantr to be called a "game"

(5/5) Reviewed by User: xeemaar on Fri Jul 01 2005

First of all, let me tell you, that about 1.5 thousand currently players play this game (as at 1st July 05). Of these, almost all are young-adults, and the rest older. This is the kind of "game" that would be of interest to a mature university student, but I have seen many many others addicted to it, who are far from that description. I have seen people talk about it for hours, and a person who doesn't know about the game would think they are talking about the "real" world, but the names of the cities are strange. I think it would help a lot of I would type an excrept from such a discussion:

"Hey, you know what happened in Djorf Hills South? We went to deliver coal, as per our contract with them, but he wasn't there! His wife dealt with us, but she said she would accept only 10Kg of the coal.. wee had brought 20 Kg.. we were quite angry.. but later Hafter returned.. I would ask him to write me a letter of recommendation or something in a note, so that I can show it to those people at Seatown Forest, and they might allow me to dig up some of hematie.. man.. we really need some hematite.. iron tools would double our rate of production.. Hey you know what? On the way to Djorf Hills South, We got another order from some guy named Jasper.. he said he needs stone.. 15Kg... I've agreed to supply him with it.. let's see..... How're things in Blackrock Forest? .......... "

So.. you see now? this game is not a game, it's an experiment to see how a really complex society evolves, by itself! I really really would recommend this game! Once you get into this game, you would forget about all other games! It is a virtual society.. you can do WHATEVER you want... become a thief? go into somebody else's building, pick up the stuff that's on the ground, and leave... but most towns have a few guards, who would chase you with weapons and force you into a building named "jail". There is no system for any occupation.. Oh just try this game! make a few characters and stick with it for a few days.. I guarantee you would start getting the taste of it in a few days!
HIGHLY, HIGHY recommended! and this is from a guy who has been playing numerous online games for the past 5 years!

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Interesting,Slow-Paced,"Realistic"

(4/5) Reviewed by User: RocMat1 on Thu Dec 23 2004

Let me just put this in a simple Cons, Pros format:

Pros:
Deep Game with more than just slicing up people

You can make a difference in how the game runs, very high custimazation possible,very little is programmed This is the main thing I like about this game, your imagination is the limit

Doesnt take up a a lot of time playing

Active Forums

Cons:
Too slow paced for many people, a meeting could take a real life week or more

Trusts too much in people, too easy to use OOC information for a game advantage

Chance of death when logged off by being attacked and such

Server a little too slow

Hard for some people to grasp the idea of no monentary unit

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Agar missed the point

(5/5) Reviewed by User: west on Sat Sep 18 2004

(See Agar's review)
...Agar's review is accurate, if you ignore the fact that it's a SOCIETY simulator. If you try to do everything yourself, as in real life, you run the risk of suckage. That's why you INTERACT with people. I've been playing for two years, and I've probably played close to 40 characters in those two years. All of them started with nothing, and several of my current crop are among the most powerful in their regions. Because of interaction. There's a steep learning curve, and if you're an idiot you're probably not going to like the game much. If you're interested in societal interaction and cooperation, you'll likely go far.

In conclusion: If you know what you're getting into, you're in for the ride of your life. If you're looking for instant gratification, you should probably try playing Snood.

69 of 73 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Time for a nap

(2/5) Reviewed by User: Agar on Fri Sep 03 2004

Like games that get your blood pumping? Enjoy stepping into a tavern and buying some food before setting out on a grand and exciting adventure?

Then don't play this game.

You want to not starve? Spend a day, in real life time, digging potatoes out of the ground. Want to get some gear, some simple leather armour and maybe a bow? Forget about it. Go beat up that cow, you'll kill it with your bare fist in about a week and a half, then you can make club out of bone, then make a needle and start sewing yourself a loincloth.

Want some money? There isn't any. Anywhere.

If you want to struggle to wrest your survival from the earth, this is your game. There are no NPCs, no monsters, just other players, some animals, and the dirt. Getting a question answer often takes around 3 days. You might try being a servant or slave to the most arrongant person in your town, it might keep you fed.

Oh, and it's against the rules to know that an axe can cut wood.

24 of 92 people found the following review helpful, did you?

Cantr user comment

(5/5) Reviewed by User: a98madison on Tue Oct 14 2003

Cantr is the free online game that I gave up all other free online games for.

The heartbeat of the game is every three hours but you can log on anytime to discuss things with other chracters.

It's no hack and slah game. But you can hurt other chracters with weapons. If you build or otherwise get a good weapon and shield you can do much havoc. That's not what the game is about but it is of course allowed.

The game is about building goverments. There is nothing set in the game on goverment types everything is based only on how the chracters act. You can call yourelf king if you want to. Just like in real life you have to convince others that you are a king or a president or whatever.

In this game team play (as long as it's not your out of game friends) is encouraged. There is no rigid team function. Just in real life the people that you trust and help you are the ones the trust and help you.

It is not grpahical or real time. If you want that kill another dieseaed rat in EQ.

This game allows "new" freedoms in online role playing. If you get up to go get some more chips you won't get killed. In fact most of the time if you don't log in for a week you won't get killed either.

Conversely even if you log in constantly you can get killed. The feild is pretty blanced between ocansioanly users and every hour users.

The life of each player is pretty slow. That is why you have 15 to play all in differnt areas having a unqiue experience.

Think it of a REAL role playing game where you are a REAL chracter and not just another multi-class magic-user/fighter killing rats for a living.