Make Money with AfterWorld: A Real Cash Economy Game

Real Cash Economy games are a future gold mine and, thanks to Second Life, a door has opened up for more to be sprung. AfterWorld is similar to Second Life and Entrophia in that it has its own currency system which can be traded for real money in our actual economy. AfterWorld has what's referred to as a 'free market economy system' in the midst of a massively multiplayer online game universe set in a science fiction post-apocalyptic Siberia - It's 200 years in the future, a tragic catastrophe has wiped out the majority of the Earth's population; some who survived and were 'exposed' to this event (instead of getting killed) became mutated and crave living flesh.

Currently set in its alpha stage, AfterWorld has a complex skills based role-playing system which consists of over a hundred various skills, each making use of the game's unique mechanics. There are over more than a dozen picturesque game locales that cover roughly 100 square kilometers of Siberian land. The game also manages to combine First Person Shooter characteristics with its Role-Playing Game atmosphere.

The game has gorgeous graphics, although I wasn't particularly enthralled by its post-apocalyptic elements. Creating your character's avatar is pretty run-of-the-mill standard - Pick the face, gender, hair, name (both real and nickname, mind you). Don't get your hopes up though because you'll either start out running around in a pair of boxers or what looks like a prison jumpsuit with not a penny in your wallet/inventory and much room for expansion and big dreams.

Registration is completely free, just as it is in Second Life and similar 'virtual world' online games, but considering that the game is an RCE (Real Cash Economy), you may need to purchase some items or conduct some in-game transactions where service fees apply. As soon as you have earned some money in-game, you will be able to withdraw funds to your real-life account. Every 100 AWD in-game credits is equal to $10 US dollars in real life. Most obviously, it would be best play the game without having to 'donate' any money although it would be in your best to interest to avoid it whenever possible. 100 AWD alone takes care of a lot in the game. But since you begin with nothing, this makes the game very difficult in the beginning.

So how easy is it to make money in AfterWorld, you ask? Well, I wouldn't say it is as hard as say Second Life (amen) but it is far from anything easy. The biggest pinnacle of all when it comes down to making money in this game is that you are going to have to spend $10 US dollars to get that first 100 AWD if you really want to get anywhere, it is possible to get it on your own but it's going to be like picking dirt with the types of 'free tools' you're going to get. My main problem with this game is that, for a post-apocalyptic setting in the future, there are no good old save-the-world missions or quests, you know, the type that starts out simple but eventually turns into an epic-scale battle of sorts. That is the main thing missing from making you want to come back to this game over and over again. That's what these types of stories are all about after all, look at films with similar environments such as "Mad Max" and "Escape from New York", it's all about the fun missions.

Produced by 10TACLE Studios AG, AfterWorld makes use of the Torque Game Engine V.1.5 system, an award-winning 3D Engine that combines Maya and 3DSMax. In order to run AfterWorld, you need a Windows XP operating computer system with the following recommendations: 512 MB RAM, OpenGL 3D Graphics Accelerator with 128 MB RAM, and 1.4GHz Athion or Pentium.