Well of Souls is Synthetic Reality's FREE multi-player online Role Playing Game, where players hop from server to server fighting monsters, solving quests, and levelling their characters.

The game comes with the world of Evergreen which you can enjoy by yourself or with others. Player-vs-player fighting is completely at your option.

If you're feeling creative, Well of Souls is extensible through a simple scripting language so that you can compose your own quests, and publish your own world. You can also customize your skin and contribute art and music. Plus, you can create your own guild and host your own server where people can play together.

Dozens of additional worlds are available for free download within the game.

New worlds can have their own themes, maps, user interface, character classes, items, monsters, pets, quests, spells, skills, equipment, puzzles, mini-games, guilds and tournament ladders.

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Golden Soul for $25

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If you want to get a small perk in return, check out the offer.

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Testimonials

Nice people saying nice things:

• "What a great game!!! I love it!!!" - West Point
  
• "Great game Dan, keep up the good work!" - Sacramento
  
• "Very cool game! Keep up the good work!" - Bloomingdale
  
• "I figure I''ve gotten at least $10 worth of enjoyment out of this even if I don't ever play again" - Debbie
  
• "This is amazing!" - Derek
  
• "Cool game..I thought it would be hokey at first, but once I got into the strategy needed to train the right skills and magic it got real interesting...SLEEP..who needs it!" - Stafford, VA.
  
• "I am enjoying the game. You deserve the $10.00" - New Hampshire
  
• "Thank you for creating such an amazing game as Well of Souls" - Quebec
  
• "Thank You, you have made a little old lady's life much more entertaining with WoS" - GG
  
• "Why did it take me so long to find this gem of a game? An absolute gem, keep up the great work, who says you need 5 CD's full of data to make amazing gameplay?" - Nigel
  
• "I sent you an email with some comments and a stupid game idea. I have another stupid idea. You should make a list of stupid ideas you've received and put them on your website :)." - TX (please see www.stupidIdeas.com)
  
• "The game is pretty entertaining, but I like the tongue-in-cheek attitude you have." - Ontario
  
• "Thank you for the wonderful service you provide :) I think it must be hard for you to balance the cost of development and the want to provide a great service/entertainment for everyone... It's like a great MUD gone completely mad ;)" - West Virginia
  
• "I just wanted to say thank you for offering a game where we don't HAVE to pay, but choose to pay. I've enjoyed my 90 hours so far." - Phoenix
  
• "This game rocks" - Tracy
  
• "Sometimes it is really funny!" - Georgiy
  
• "I think this game is the best game my son has ever played..." - Pennsylvania
  
• "This card belongs to my wife" - Tracy
  
• "It's nice that you don't MAKE people pay. The game is well worth the $25, however" - Utah
  
• "Is this my activation code?" - Tracy
  
• "Wow!!! WoS is a super-fun game,I love it!! Keep on the good work!!!!!!" -Kfar-Saba, NA (???)
  
• "A great product! A complete ton of fun!" - Alabama
  
• "I finally broke down and counted up enough pennies! Keep up the good work Dan." - North Carolina
  
• "Best game ever, but make halos do something" - New Jersey
  
• "WoS is a great game! You did a great job making it. I like it so much that I'm buying a Golden Soul. I've finally stopped being a Cheap Bastard (TM)" - Puerto Rico
  
• "This is a really fun game. Kudos to the programmer. Free online play is a great feature." - Arizona
  
• "I love this game!^.^" - Hong Kong
  
• "Just wanted to say how much I love the great, free game :)" - New York
  
• "This is the koolest game ever, better than unreal gold even" - Arkansas
  
• "I love well of souls, it's the best game for freeware value" - Ohio
  
• "Please don't sell my information to other companies. I won't be happy. By the way, WOS is a great game." <Per the Synthetic Reality Privacy Policy, his name is available to highest bidder>
  
• "Thanx Dan I really appericiate you 4 making this game and you have my respect." - Great Britain
  
• "Great game dude; good work... also, i wanna form a guild in < 100 hrs... :P" - Australia
  
• "Just want to say thanks for your wonderful work... I know it is a Labor of Love..." - Florida
  
• "The most fun i've ever had playing an online game 8) fantastic!! u r a chenious.. thanks!!! Har. pleez make an offline guide to making worlds available to registered users. (maybe) huh? did i say pleez? THANKS!!" - Maine
  
• "I really enjoy the time I spend playing your game" - New Mexico
  
• "Love the graphics and animations (even though they're 2D), spell system, fighting alongside pets etc" - Finland <My new best friend>
  
• "Thanks for such a great game. I've had more than $25.00 worth of fun, and I'm glad to help out" - Jennifer
  
• "Great game i thank you for making it." - Clinton, New York
  
• "This is a great game that is also exceptionally entertaining. Keep up the good work!" - Jessica
  
• "Awesome, awesome... keep up the good work, bringing cheap and high quality entertainment" - Brazil
  
• "hello uncle dan... thanks for making great games over the years..." - Alberta
  
• "Excellent piece of software very good. Keep up the good work :)" - Great Britain
  
• "More for the method you go about payment then a pretty golden name. No demo, no 1 hour until shutoff. I like that and think it should be reimbursed. This is the most effective way that I know. :)" - Swansea, MA
  
• "I have paid more for game at stores, only to find out after minutes that I hate the game for one reason or another...I've only been playing WoS for a few days, and find that it's more fun, and immensely more addictive the further along my character progresses. And the quality of people that I've met playing your game, outstanding! I'm thoroughly impressed." - Boca Raton, FL
  
• "I just want to thank you for this game. It has given my family hours of fun!" - Annette
  
• "Great game. I've played it sporadically over the past 3 years. I finally have been able to pay you for what it's worth." - USAF
  
• "Well, my sis wants a new GS for something or other for christmas, and i guess i'm the sucker who gets to pay for it! Heh. Merry Christmas Dan." - United Kingdom
  
• "For all the hours I have spent on this game in the past, I figure I owe you this more than a simple thank you." - Beverly Hills <No, thank YOU! -dan>
  
• "yeah i know...i already bought a golden soul...but i want another one!! even before i get the first one!! you're a fantastic salesman, i was rereading the golden soul web thingy and was like ONE ISN'T ENOUGH!! MUST HAVE MORE GOLDEN SOULS!! grats on a great game =D" - Florida
  
• "souuuulllllssss.....musttttt haveeeee more soullllssssssssss.......=D" - Florida

Sorry, my finger wore out on the NEXT key, but many thanks to all you guys! It was really great re-reading through these. My apologies to the years I left out :-)

Here, let's jump straight to 2007:

• "Love the game guys, good job." - TX

...and by inductive proof that demonstrates the intervening years were also filled with nice people.

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How to Play

I think most people appreciate having their hand held for the first few moments in a new environment. So let's just walk through the first little bit together...

Well of Souls is a Role Playing Game (RPG) which means you will be creating a character and working hard to raise its level until finally it is a mighty force with which to be reckoned. Along the way you will have quests to solve and monsters to defeat. If you choose to take advantage of the multiplayer aspects of the game (instead of just playing "solo" which you are welcome to do), you will also find friends and foes battling alongside you.

When you start the game, you will be faced with several decisions:

• Where to play (solo, over the Internet, etc.). Most people play solo until they learn the user interface and then play over the Internet (using Public MIX Servers) for the rest of their lives. Any character you create can play solo or online.
  
• What world to play. When you first get the game you will only have one world -- Evergreen, to play in. But players much like yourself have created additional worlds which you can download and enjoy. You might find that you'd enjoy making a world of your own, whether you choose to publish it or not!
  
• What character to play. You can have as many characters in each world as you like, but since this is your first time, you will be creating a new character instead of restoring an old one.

Pretty much any time you like, you can press the F1 key to bring up the built-in help file. Also, if you choose QUICKSTART INSTRUCTIONS from the game's HELP menu, you'll get a quick overview of how the interface works. It's probably a bit different from what you may be used to, but it is actually quite simple.

Making a New Character

Pay close attention to the row of buttons along the very bottom of the screen. When you point to them, they may tell you more about what they do.

"It's a boid!"

The first button you will probably push is the egg-shaped "new character" button. Pressing this brings up a dialog where you get to design your character. You give it a name, a "character class" (wizard, warrior, etc. Classes vary with the world you play in).

Then choose whether or not you wish to follow the path of PK (Player Killing is both popular and irritating. You can choose to opt out of the whole thing and be invulnerable to other players.)

"I never PK"

Then you will assign your character's starting stats by assigning "ability points." For now, just assign these at random. You will earn more ability points when you level up.

"Choose Wisely"

Finally you will pick your character's "skin" (it's visual appearance as seen by other players). You can actually draw your own skin file (if you have artistic talent - or even if you don't), and it can be shared with other players automatically.

If you change your mind later, you can change your skin by using the "Book of Skins" (in the BOOKS menu) while in solo mode.

"I pwn u!"

Now the time has come to leave the Well and enter the world by 'incarnating' into your physical body. Press the INCARNATE button on the far right to do this.

Once you enter the world, the bottom row of buttons will change to something more appropriate to the meaty. Note you can ALSO customize the game by changing the 'user interface theme' (so if you can draw prettier buttons than me, go for it!) Several member-created worlds come with attractive themes.

Walking and Fighting

You will find yourself on the map. Clicking on a spot on the map will make you walk to that location. But beware, you are still weak and there are monsters nearby (albeit, rather weak ones, as monsters go). The display has two major modes: MAP (aerial view of you walking around) and SCENE (perspective view of you in a small area interacting with monsters and other players). Fighting always takes place in a scene.

You *will* get sucked into fights, of course, as that is the nature of the game. Once in a fight, the thing to remember is that you may attack with a Weapon, a Spell, or an Item.

The bottom right three buttons select the EQUIP, SPELL, and ITEM screens. Whichever screen is visible determines your attack. So:

• Click the EQUIP button and then click on a monster to attack it with your current equipment.
• Click the SPELL button, select a spell, then click on a monster to cast that spell upon it. You will, of course, need to learn some spells first.
• Click the ITEMS button, select an item, then click on yourself to consume that item (a cheese sandwich might restore your hit points, for example)

A special cursor will appear, and will 'smoke' when you can hit the monster. You'll get the hang of this quickly, but first you will probably die.

"rawr!"

So let's learn how to get brought back to life.

Resurrection

When you first walked out onto the map, you will see you were close to a 'link-point' called the Gateway of Dreams. (Other worlds will have different locations to serve this purpose)

"I got better!" "an ex-Hero"

Click on it to walk into it (dropping into a scene). Once inside, you will meet a religious sort of fellow. He will resurrect you for free (put life back into your physical body). Note that your soul remains in your physical body, even when dead -- Well of Souls comes with its own metaphysics :-)

Even if you are not completely dead, this fellow is still useful as he will fully restore your health points (HP) and magic points (MP). For Free!

The first time you meet him, he will require your vow to follow the Golden Rule -- or he will refuse to help you later. This is my sneaky way of getting you to acknowledge the terms of service for each character you create. Just type YES in the chat window, and press ENTER.

Shopping and Equipping

Also, while in his presence you will notice a special 'shop' button appear. Press this to see what items he has for sale.

"shiny!"

Between buying items and finding things after battle, your EQUIP screen will pick up a long list of items. If you see a GREEN PLUS next to an item, it means that you would be stronger if you were to EQUIP that item. To do that, RIGHT-click on the name of the item in the EQUIP list, and select 'equip it'

That same RIGHT-click menu will have other options when you are near a shopkeeper (for example, the ability to SELL an unequipped item).

A RED PLUS next to an item means it *would* make you stronger, but you are not yet able to equip it (probably your level is not yet high enough - go kill some more monsters!)

And, finally, a RED X next to an item means it is useless to your character's class and you might as well sell it, since the gold you'll get is worth more to you.

"stylin'!"

Note that you pretty much start the game in your underwear, so it is highly advised to equip the very best items you can (as your character levels up, it will have access to better items). You equip different parts of your body separately, so you can mix and match your equipment as you see fit. Different bits of equipment boost your ATTACK and DEFENSE points by varying degrees.

You're On Your Way!

That's pretty much the whole game in a nutshell... Fight, gain levels, get killed, get healed, put on better equipment, repeat. Be sure to check out the quickstart instructions for the details on casting spells, using items on yourself, catching and taming pets, and the thousands of other little details about the game.

Welcome, Soul, your destiny awaits you!

If you have a simple question, you might find the answer in the WoS FAQ. Inside the game itself is a help file (press F1) and even a QuickStart Instructions guide which will pop open automatically the first few times you play. You an also check out the Network Troubleshooter for help with firewalls and routers.

The game has many, many features, from the useful customizable chat muting based on automatically determined language rating (G to XXX) to the silly drunken 1337 shakespearean filter. Explore the right-click and top-of-screen menus and share your findings with your friends.

And when you're ready to create a world of your own, check out the WoS Developer Pages. While in the game, click on Check On Line For New Worlds to get a list of available worlds created by other players.

~~~~"Thank you for playing Well of Souls"

Screen Shots

Feel free to send in screen shots of your own!

~~~~~~~~ Go Public "share the love" Well of Souls includes a copy of the latest MIX Game Server. If you have a well-connected PC, you might consider running a Public Server so anyone with Well of Souls will see it as an available place to play. Your copy of MIX is just a checkbox away from going public. (And you can take it private again, just as easily)