''Evony'' (formerly known as ''Civony'') is a

multiplayer online game A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

by American developer Evony LLC, set in the European

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

period. Two browser-based versions (''Age 1'' and ''Age 2'') and a mobile version (''The King's Return'') exist. The game became notorious for its original ad campaign, which featured scantily clad women (including models from

pornographic film Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...

covers) that had nothing to do with the game itself.

Gameplay

''Evony'' is set in a

persistent world A persistent world or persistent state world (PSW) is a virtual world which, by the definition given by Richard Bartle, "continues to exist and develop internally even when there are no people interacting with it". The first virtual worlds were ...

during the medieval period. The player assumes the role of a lord or lady of a city or alliance. New players are granted "beginner's protection," which prevents other players from attacking their cities for seven days or until they upgrade the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

to level five or higher. This lets new players accumulate resources and troops and accustom themselves to the game before other players can attack them. The player sets tax rate, production, and construction. Resources include gold, food, lumber, stone, iron, and the city's idle population. As with similar games, the player first must increase the city's population and hourly resource production rates and construct certain buildings in the city, and then start building resource fields and an army. An army can include

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

machines, such as

ballista The ballista (Latin, from Ancient Greek, Greek βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae or ballistas, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an Classical antiquity, ancient missile weapon tha ...

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

s, and

battering ram A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient times and was designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried ...

s, and foot troops, such as

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

s, warriors and

swordsmen Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...

. All items must be acquired with gems, which can be purchased with real money through its item shop in game or won at the wheel. Some items accelerate the player's progress through the game. Winning items in battle is the primary way to acquire resources and cities.

Interaction

The game features

player-versus-player Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents and is usually of ...

game play, rendering it almost impossible for players who have not formed or joined alliances to survive. The game allows the player to control up to ten cities through gain of titles. To gain a title, a certain rank is necessary. Both Title and Rank require Medals gained by use of in-game coins to purchase medal boxes, by attacking valleys or winning medal boxes from spinning the wheel. The game has two monetary systems. The in-game monetary system revolves around gold. Gold can be obtained by completing quests, by taxing the city's population, or by attacking NPCs. One can sell resources for gold on the marketplace or trade resources with others within one's alliance for gold. One can also use real money to buy game cents with which to purchase items and resources from the in-game shop.

Reception

In a three-star review for ''

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional c ...

'', Joel Lauterbach wrote, "Evony has done an amazing job at making the game look and feel appealing to all gamers, however once a player scratches the surface and sees the investment-heavy time-killing

game mechanic In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics define how a game works for players. Game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide player actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, wh ...

s, many are likely to be put off."

Controversy

''The Guardian'' noted that ''Evony'' 2009 ad campaign featured women, increasingly unclothed, which had no connection to the game. In 2009, Gavin Mannion wrote that ''Evony'' "latest ad is seriously pushing boundaries of what is acceptable to publish on Google". Other ads used stock photographs from pornographic DVD covers and promoted the game via "millions of spam comments". The company denied responsibility. That same year, Evony's lawyers sent a

cease-and-desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the other ...

letter to blogger Bruce Everiss after he alleged

deceptive marketing False advertising is the act of publishing, transmitting, distributing or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally, or recklessly, to promote the sale of property, goods or servi ...

but withdrew their claims two days into the case. In April 2024, Evony's advertising attracted controversy again when the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Advertising Standards Authority ruled that a number of the game's online ads were misleading. The ads showed apparent gameplay involving shooting barrels rolling towards the player, or solving puzzles. While the game does contain minigames similar to advertised, the ASA concluded that they do not represent the core of the game and therefore breached UK advertising codes.

References

External links

* {{Official website 2009 video games Browser games Multiplayer online games Flash games Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy games Obscenity controversies Science fiction video games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Europe Video games set in the Middle Ages Video games with isometric graphics Virtual economies