A Mud is usually a game (although they can be used for other purposes). It's played online using a client application and what you see is generally like the old text adventure games. The real difference is that in these games you will find other adventurers like yourself. The Muds run 24 hours a day and at any time there might be up to several hundred other players.

A Mud is typically an area consisting of 1000's of rooms, where you will meet and fight Orcs and Dragons (or perhaps Aliens and Starship Captains). These mobiles (Mobs) are part of the game and are semi-intelligent. You might fight them, steal from them or buy equipment from them with gold you have earned.

As you travel around you will meet 'real' adventurers and they may be friendly or hostile. You might fight this adventurer or team up with him/her to battle a particularly tough demon or to storm a castle. You can also stop to chat. In addition most Muds have a chat channel so you can speak to any player online.

One difference to an old adventure game is that it doesn't have a simple ending. You can play on forever if you wish. You begin the game fairly weak and with little equipment. Each time you fight your character gains in experience and strength and you are able to tackle greater challenges. If you win a fight you keep the best of your opponent's armour and weapons and sell the rest for gold.

    Selecting a Mud       Choosing a Client      Adult Content

The best place to begin is The Mud Selector. Here you will find around 1400 different Muds to choose from. The vast majority are free to play. The Mud Selector allows you to search its database for the kinds of Mud which might interest you. Although very many are set in medieval times or fantasy worlds such as Lord of the Rings, you will also find some set in space, the far future or just about anything you can imagine. A few have quite adult content, but the The Mud Selector displays this information too.

Since most Muds involve fighting either other players or game characters (Mobs) there is frequently a level of violence that might be unsuitable for young children. In addition some Muds may include/allow sexual content.

Its also true that since the Muds include a chat channel a child might hear unsuitable language at times. The Mud Selector includes a Parental Warning and gives advice on avoiding this.

Although you can play a Mud using the Windows Telnet client it's very basic. There are a number of Mud Clients available and many are free. My personal favourite is RoaClient while Merry prefers Ashavar's Legacy.

  RoaClient Free

  Zmud Shareware

  Ashavars Legacy Free

A search for 'Mud Client' will produce many more.