Agos is a "Simple RPG" in which players fight monsters in a single shared world. While a simple premise, the game has expanded significantly in scope since its release in 2018. Agos now has 6 distinct biomes, 3 bosses, 8 Mini-Bosses, a wide variety of events both weekly and seasonal, a clan system, a 'rebirth'/reset system, two fusion systems, and much much more.
It is considered a 'simple' rpg because the basic systems are pared down into their essentials. The level cap is a standard '100', and (most of) the stats you put points into are simple. Vitality and Intelligence give a flat amount of health or stamina (respectively) and every 6 points increases your regeneration rate of either stat by 1. Strength increases how much damage you deal, and Agility increases how fast you move and high high you jump. There is one weird stat, DART, that lowers the cooldown of your dash; even DART is simple compared to the complex web of stat interactions in many modern RPGs. The gameplay loop is also simple: kill enemies for XP and Loot, become more powerful with your stats and loot, and kill bigger enemies. There are no fishing minigames or afk-ing in the copper mines. Just hit mobs hard and hope they drop a bigger sword.
Because I like it!
Agos styles itself like many MMOs before it. Like Massively Multiplayer Online games, all players in Agos share the same game space. Though this game is significantly smaller than an 'MMO', as the number of online players rarely rises above 10. However, while the playerbase is small, it is nonetheless very dedicated. Part of the playerbase comes from a similar game that went offline in 2016- Stick Online. SO also had a small but dedicated playerbase, and many of them were overjoyed to have a similar game release so soon to the demise of Stick Online.
Personally, while I enjoyed Stick Online in my own way, I found Agos to be an improvement in every way. The combat is more dynamic, the community more welcoming, there is more and higher quality content, and I like Agos's hat designs more. Agos continues to see updates, both to add new content and to refine old content and game systems. For example, the combat in Agos was basically the same as in Stick Online: pick one weapon to use and swing it as fast as you could. However, there have been several innovations since the 1.0 release of Agos that make it significantly more engaging. The 1.1 update added the Combo System, allowing players to select up to 5 weapons they can attack with at will, each with their own cooldown timers. Combos, or specific sequences of weapon swings, can also be performed for a bonus; this bonus is usually increased damage or a stamina refund. The 1.2 update added 'Evasive' mob AI that allowed mobs to attempt to evade the player's attacks, raising the skill ceiling of fighting the toughest monsters.
Similarly, it improves on the systems of more well known modern RPGS and MMOs. The lack of trading feels stifling when you first boot the game up, but it prevents gold farming and bots from bogging down the servers. It also ensures that if you get a cool weapon or hat, everyone knows you got it yourself. Circles (the in-game name for player-run clans) are perfectly sized for the small playerbase and have a variety of interesting mechanics for new and old players alike. For example, instead of the end-game-players-only competitions of your average MMO, Agos's biweekly Circle Competitions are open all players. Because they are scored only on number of monsters killed in a biome, anybody in a circle can compete and win if they're dedicated enough, regardless of how powerful they are. Circle Competitions also almost guarantee 6 'winners' each week since each Biome has its own kill count and reward- and each circle can only win one biome's reward per event. Even if one circle was significantly stronger than the others, there would still be at least 5 rewards to compete for.
If I had to choose a final system I adore about Agos I wish other MMOs had, and I do, it would be the Big Death system. Once a player reaches level 100, they have the option to use a 'Big Death Token' which will increase their Luck significantly, at the cost of a significant chunk of their currencies and resetting them back to level 1. This improves the gameplay loop by giving players an alternative path to grind and shorten the time it takes to get good drops in the future. Plus that feeling of getting stronger again is a core part of what makes RPGs fun!
Under Construction
Use these links to jump to different parts of Agos's history in the meantime:
Use these links to discover more granular aspects of the game's history:
While preparing to finish the Beta and launch the 1.0 update, Igufed decided he needed to have a dedicated server for the game. In order to purchase one, Gufi launched a Kickstarter campaign in May of 2018. The campaign lasted until June 1st, and raised 2017 USD of the 1800$ necessary with 15 separate backers. Backers were promised several rewards; this includes unique icons next to their names, "collaborating to change the look of an in game item" (6 backers), collaborating to create a new weapon (4 backers), and collaborate to create a new hat (2 backers). There was also an opportunity to collaborate to create new NPCs, though nobody donated 1,000$ so this reward was never given out. If you know anything about the specifics of the rewards backers recieved, please reach out to me on Discord! I'd love to know which items specifically were created with the help of backers.
Little official information about the game exists before it was released. I'd like to interview some folks who played the beta about what the game was like and how it differed from it's 1.0 release version. If you played the Agos beta (IE before September 24, 2018) please reach out to me on Discord.
The game is publically released, anyone can play! Unfortunately, I also know little about this version of the game. Here are a few things I do know.
These three small updates added a few small features and fixed a couple of bugs in the full release. Here are the highlights:
This massive update overhauls many game systems, adds a new biome to explore, and implements the game's first boss.
*Ability, In-Air, and GUI Skins never got fully implemented, though they were announced this patch.
This short period features several key balance changes and additions leading up the the big Map Expansion Update. Here are a few of the most important changes:
The 1.2.0 Update was literally massive; the size of the game world practically doubled with the addition of 3 new biomes. The formidable Castle spawned the toughest basic enemies in the game, and is still considered the most difficult area to grind today. The oppressive Desert dealt a constant burn to all players inside it, making it difficult or impossible to grind without a burn resistance hat. Finally, the placid Beach hosted few enemies, but would later become a grand battlefield.
This update also included one of my favorite mechanics in the game: Second Chances. This is a risk/reward mechanic that gives a small chance for a Second Chance Chest to drop for players whose health is below a certain percentage. Each area has its own Second Chance Chest (ie Castle Second Chance) and its own Final Chance Chest. Each chest can be used for a 'second chance' for a list of drops unique to the area the chest is related to. While the chance of getting any item from a single SCC is low, the drop list also includes the area's Final Chance Chest; Final Chance Chests always give an item.
Here are a few of the other additions & changes:
Small Changes before the big Circles Updates
Circles, the game's Clan system, took several smaller patches to fully implement. The three main patches, 1.2.09, 1.2.12, and 1.2.13 each implemented different aspects of Cirlces.
1.2.09 added the basics of the Circle system. This included the ability to create a Circle, invite other players, manage the rank of each Circle member, and gain Circle Credits. Circles require a unique name of 3-14 alphanumeric characters or spaces. The maximum size of each Circle was 3 players, and players could not join more than one Circle at a time. Also, leaving a Circle imposed a 7 day cooldown wherein that player could not join another Circle. Circle Credits could be earned by killing monsters if the Circle had at least two members, but couldn't be spent until the next major update.
Also, the infrequently used 'Interaction Wheel' (iWheel for short) was added in 1.2.09 to enable players to use Circle functions. Theoretically this could allow player-to-player interaction like inventory peeking or PvP invites, but so far the only interactions on the wheel for non-GMs are circle functions.
1.2.12 was the Circle Shop Update. This update, coming only 15 days after Circles were added, implemented the Circle Credits Shop. This shop allows players to spend their hard-earned Circle Credits on various buffs or a few unique items. There are 3 categories of purchases in the Circle Shop: Server Buffs, Circle Buffs, and Unlockables. Server Buffs affect every player in the server and last for 2 hours, however only one Server Buff can be active at any time. Circle Buffs affect only the players in the Circle and last 1 hour. Each 'type' of Circle Buff can only have one effect active per Circle, but players can have multiple types of buff at the same time. See the table below for more information. Finally, the Unlockables section of the Circle Shop allows players to purchase permanent Warp Tokens and a unique Clear Clear Balloon.
| small bonus | str +5 | agi +10 | def +1 | regen -8 s/t |
| large bonus | str +15 | agi +20 | def +3 | regen -15 s/t |
s/t means Steps per Tick of regeneration. Many Game Maker games run on 30 or 60 Steps per second, though I don't know how many Steps per second Agos runs at.
This update also added a new drop to the Flowa enemy, though I'm not sure which. I believe it may have been the Flowa Platform Skin, Planted.
1.2.13 was the long awaited Circle Competitions update. This update dropped July 9th, and the first Competition started on the 13th. Circle Competitions, as explained in the introduction, require a Circle to kill more enemies in a given area in one week than the other Circles to recieve a bonus effect the next week. There are two tiers of rewards, and each Competition week must feature at least one Teir 2 reward. See the following table for a list of rewards.
| Teir 1 | Gold Rate 250% | Credit Rate 120%/150% | Damage Reduction 25% | Damage Increase 25% |
| Teir 2 | Circle Credits 25k, 50k, 100k | Luck +10% | Drop Rate +1 |
The ever loved Hat Fusion was also added in this update! Mini-bosses can now occasionally drop 'Hat Fusion Vouchers' that allow players to 'fuse' two elligable hats into one. The new hat will look like a mix of the two hats, the style and colors depending on the order the hats were in the Fusion UI. Fused hats will also inherit 60-70% of the base stats, 70% of the positive traits, and 100% of the negative traits of both hats. Initially 17 hats were fusable, with new additions added over time with new content and from player donations.
Here are a handful of other additions in the 1.2.13 update:
These smaller content additions, scattered over a year of development, held players over until the final major update to Agos. Here is a list of the most notable additions during that year:
This much awaited update brought players a new boss, the new consumable type 'Potions', buffs to several underused mechanics, complete reworks for two Castle enemies, 8 new hats, 4 new weapons, 3 additions to the Hat Fusion pool, and the surprising new risk/reward mechanic: Trihard.
Trihard+ is a consumable item which allows players to increase their 'Trihard' level. Each level increases a player's luck by 0.05% and damage taken by 10%; every 10 levels of Trihard increases the player's Drop Rate by 1 and decreases their DART cooldown by 10%. These buffs don't affect bosses or spawn party mobs. Players will lose 1 level of Trihard every 5 minutes of inactivity and ALL levels if they die. This is now the best way to farm items, though Trihard+ items are expensive and easy to lose, so its generally only used by powerful endgame players during multi-hour long play sessions.
The 'Captain' Boss is the most difficult and mechanically complex enemy in the game by far. Players spawn the Captain by defeating 22 'Ship' enemies, which spawn once every 4-8 hours or so. Once 22 ships have been defeated, a pirate ship slowly sails to the very edge of the 'Beach' area. Once docked, players must defeat the 3 'cannons' placed onboard the ship. However, after any cannon is defeated, crewmates of the pirate Captain will begin to spawn. Defeating these shipmates yields large amounts of level 100 Credits and a chance for a unique hat of the same color the crewmate was wearing; however, shipmate deaths also significantly power up the Captain when he spawns. Finally, once every cannon is dead, the Captain reveals himself and begins fighting the players.
During the fight, the Captain has several weapons he can use on the players. His primary weapon is the 'Noark'- a throwing weapon that travels in a long straight line before it begins to fall to the ground. At certain stages, he can either taunt players or rest. Players must deal significant damage when he Taunts them, and completely leave him alone when he rests, or he will Curse every player fighting him for massive damage over time. Depending on how many shipmates were killed, his other weapons can be more or less powerful. Firstly, he spawns Ghostly Crewmates that roam the battlefield and give players the 'Fear' status on touch. Ghostly Crewmates also Curse any players unluckly enough to damage the ghosts. The Captain can signal his ship to fire a series of Cannonballs that rain down from the sky, damaging unaware players and knocking them back. The more Crewmates killed, the more cannonballs are fired. Finally, if he is super pissed, the Captain can create a massive tsunami that flings players far away towards the shore of the Beach. All these weapons make the Captain a seriously deadly opponent. However, the rewards are not to be overlooked.
The Captain's droptable includes the new and highly sought after Hybrid Ability Tomes. Hybrid abilities combine the effects of two 'Level 2' abilities, starting at half strength but can be upgraded up to 120% the strength of each Level 2 ability. Each half of each Hybrid must be upgraded separately, so upgrading the Strength half of a Str/Agi tome won't affect the Strength half of the Str/Jump tome. The Captain also can drop the new Booshy Bundle, which gives 3-5 Booshies, the upgrade material for Hybrid tomes. Each Booshy can be used to increase the effectiveness of half a Hybrid tome by an additive 5%. Thus each Hybrid Ability requires 28 Booshies to become fully upgraded. Although a lengthy process to upgrade them all, these Hybrid tomes are extremely powerful. There is also a secret 'ultimate hybrid', said to be unlocked once every Hybrid Tome is fully upgraded.
Here is a list of the other big additions and changes in the Trihard update.
1.3.00 was the last major patch, but several smaller updates (and one important gameplay addition) have been made in the time since the Trihard Update. Here is a list of the most important changes and additions.
Called 'The Final Content Update' by Igufed, this update adds a new area, a new feature, and a glitched version of 43 mobs and 53(52?) hats. Players get access to the 'Logbook', which tallies up how many of each 'mob group' a player kills since the update*. Every 1000 kills (100 for certain mob groups, especially minibosses) the player gains a 'Teir'; each Teir a player has gives them a BUG Zone travel token and increases their drop chance when killing glitched versions of that mob. Players are also shown their 'Ranking' for kills of that mob group. If players get at least Teir 1 in the 'main' mobs, each noted by a Star next to their name in the logbook, they recieve a 'Permanent BUG Zone Travel Token.'
The BUG Zone is a new area where the Glitched Versions of mobs are allowed to spawn. They only spawn if a player in the Zone has at least Teir 1 of the mob in the Logbook. Killing these Glitched versions of mobs doesn't affect the Logbook. However, this isn't the only difference from the 'normal' areas. Players in the BUG Zone don't regenerate health or stamina normally- instead they must use potions (or some of the new Hat Traits). Potion cooldowns are reduced in the BUG Zone to a level that makes it possible to kill mobs there without going insane. Players also can't place platforms, use the 'Circle Summon' ability, or use save lamps. If a player dies in the BUG Zone, they must use another token to get back.
Glitched Mobs have different behaviors and attributes compared to their 'normal' versions. For example, the Glitched Foxes have a Bleed effect on their attacks. 'Boss' mobs, like the Elder Spirit, have reduced HP so that any player could solo kill them. Each mob also drops Glitched versions of the hats their normal counterparts would drop. If a mob group does not normally drop a hat, it will instead drop a new cosmetic. The drop rate of these hats is very low, though can be improved by increasing the 'Tier' of that mob group in the Logbook. This drop chance improvement stacks up to Teir 20. However, the drop rate cannot be improved by any other means! There is also a placeholder weapon that can be dropped by Glitched bosses, to be replaced with a real new weapon in a future patch.
*The Captain boss is the only mob that was counted retroactively.
Throughout the development of Agos, several interesting features were promised and unfortunately could not be delivered. Among these include Instanced PvE and Instanced PvP, which were much desired among the playerbase. Although never (to my knowledge) confirmed, its been assumed that limitations with the development engine (Game Maker Studio 1) have interfered with these plans. However, Gufi has revealed snippets of a new 'Spiritual Successor' to Agos which is being developed in Game Maker Studio 2: Agos R. Gufi has stated that both kinds of instanced content are planned. The other planned features are promising too. The new game will be significantly more complex; it will feature a Class system, more bosses like the Captain, an increased reliance on teamwork, a different progression system, more equipment types, and much much more. More information is available in the Agos Discord server. Personally, I'm really excited!