MUDs & Text Games
147 sites
https://skotos.net/articles/show-column.phtml%3Fcolname=playing.html
Skotos Tech was a pioneering online game company that published articles and columns about text-based and browser multiplayer games. The site hosted a collection of game design writings and hosted several MUD and online RPG titles in the early 2000s.
https://wiki.adrift.co/Main_Page
The official wiki manual for ADRIFT 5, a toolkit for creating interactive fiction and text adventure games, covering everything from beginner setup to advanced scripting. Organized into a user guide, tutorials, and a detailed reference manual, it serves as the comprehensive documentation hub for anyone writing or playing ADRIFT-powered text adventures.
http://plover.net/~pscion/inform7.html
Ron Newcomb's in-depth technical guide to Inform 7, the natural-language programming language used to create interactive fiction, written specifically for experienced programmers coming from conventional languages. Covering everything from types and rulebooks to grammar quirks and low-level hacking, it serves as a comprehensive bridge between traditional coding concepts and I7's unique paradigm.
https://naga.icesus.org/icesus
Icesus is a free-to-play MUD (multi-user dungeon) set in the Valley of Icesus, a frozen post-apocalyptic world with rich lore involving warring factions, elemental religions, and rogue-like combat. The site serves as the official hub for the game, offering a player handbook, atlas, wiki, forums, and bug tracker for this long-running online text RPG.
https://theuw.net/
The Underworld is a long-running MUD established in 1988, offering 15,000 rooms across 120 zones, 8 character classes, 10 races, and 65 mortal levels with an optional player-killer dimension. Features like automated auctions, clan systems, remort options, and a Java telnet client make this one of the more feature-rich classic MUD experiences still online.
https://ifcomp.org/
IFComp is the longest-running annual competition for interactive fiction, celebrating text-driven digital games and stories from independent creators since 1995. Now in its 31st year, the site hosts entry registration, prize pools through the Colossal Fund, past competition results, and extensive resources for both authors and judges.
https://jhcore.sourceforge.net/
JHCore is a core database package for the LambdaMOO MUD server, offering an alternative to LambdaCore with a rich set of features for building virtual worlds and text-based applications. Programmers and MUD builders will find extensive support for English pronoun substitution, hypertext help systems, navigational tools, module systems, and group-based administrative privilege assignment.
http://newmoonmud.org/
New Moon is a long-running LPMud set in a medieval fantasy world, accessible via telnet at newmoonmud.org:7680 and welcoming to newcomers with guides, FAQs, maps, and client download recommendations. The site serves as the official hub for players and creators alike, featuring a beginner's guide, help pages, staff directory, and a gallery of citizen portraits.
https://valheru.com/
Valheru MUD is a text-based online adventure game set in a classic fantasy world, offering players an extensive selection of races, classes, multi-classing, and thousands of quests including live events with AI-driven NPCs. The site serves as the official hub for the game, providing connection guides, lore, clan info, builder resources, and community features for its international playerbase spanning Denmark, the USA, and beyond.
http://lysator.liu.se/mud/bsxmud.html
A page documenting Regenesis, a graphical LP-MUD hosted by Lysator (Linköping University) that supported X11, Amiga, Mac, and MS-DOS graphical clients to render in-game imagery alongside text. The MUD used the BSX protocol developed by Bram Stolk to deliver visual context to players, making it a notable early experiment in graphical multi-user dungeon gameplay from the early 1990s.