How to Play Insomnia

Connect—nothing to install

The recommended way to play is the bespoke Insomnia web client. It adds room artwork, an explored map, touch controls, inventory panels and combat buttons while keeping the full text game underneath.

If you prefer a plain terminal on Unix, connect with telnet:

Create your character

Choose New character in the web client, or type new at the login prompt. Pick a character name and a password. An email address is optional, but it is the only way to reset your own password later. You can opt out of the regular newsletter from inside the game.

Race, class, stats and skills

Your race is what kind of being you are. It gives your character natural strengths and weaknesses. Your class is your adventuring path—fighter, mage, druid, witch and so on—and shapes the skills, spells and special abilities you can learn.

Stats are broad qualities such as strength, intelligence and dexterity. Skills are learned capabilities such as attack, defence, magic or weapon use. You get three chances to roll your starting stats. Do not agonise over them: a perfect roll is not required for a useful or enjoyable character.

You may choose a class later. A classless character begins in Lucidity Town Square. If you choose a class now, you begin in its class hall: your professional home, where you can check advancement costs and later spend experience with commands such as train, improve and advance.

Meet your tiny guide

New level-one adventurers receive a magical newbie sprite. It follows you, answers simple natural-language requests and can guide you through Lucidity. If you lose it, type sprite to call it back.

Learn to look, move and handle things

Most of Insomnia makes sense once you get into the habit of looking closely. Room descriptions contain exits, objects, people and clues.

Talk to the world—and the people in it

You can speak locally, privately or over shared channels. The newbie line is the best place for first-day questions.

Insomnia also has languages. Type languages to see what you know. speak Hello uses your primary language; to use another, type something like speak in farsi Hello. Other characters only understand as much of that language as they know.

Take your first guided trip: Aeloria

Aeloria is a translucent faerie witch who can explain the world in context. Ask the sprite to lead you to her:

Aeloria gives young visitors a practical town map. Once you have met her, you can also ask her questions remotely with tell aeloria newbie.

Understand the web client

Click View map above the terminal to open your private explored map. It grows as you discover rooms. Drag or swipe the parchment to move around it, and press Centre to return to your current room. On a keyboard, Ctrl-M switches between map and terminal.

The six command buttons can become your own shortcuts:

Your button choices are saved to your character and follow you between devices.

Visit Thorgor and collect starter gear

Weapons improve your offence and damage, particularly when they match skills you train. Armour protects parts of your body and reduces incoming harm. You do not need the mathematics yet: wear the armour, wield the weapon, and avoid fighting naked unless it is a very deliberate character choice.

See what your character can do

At first, focus on staying alive, the experience needed for your next level, and the handful of stats and skills central to your class. You do not need to optimise every number. During combat, the web client automatically shows currently available class actions as buttons.

Set a panic button before you need one

wimpy makes your character try to flee when health falls below a chosen percentage. wimpydir chooses the preferred escape direction.

Make your first kill

Look for rats close to Thorgor. Read the room, inspect the creature, make sure your equipment is ready and keep an eye on your health.

Use one of the abilities shown by spells or on the web client’s combat buttons. If the fight goes badly, leave. Winning teaches you more than dying bravely to a rodent.

Return to Thorgor and start your first quest

Thorgor is both a newbie helper and a quest giver. Quests are optional structured adventures: someone gives you an objective, you explore, solve, fight or retrieve something, then return for progress and rewards.

Thorgor gives you a class-appropriate practice weapon. Follow his instructions:

Later quests can send you much farther: follow clues, talk to characters, search locations, defeat enemies and bring discoveries home. Type quest near a quest giver, inspect an offering before starting it, and read the objective carefully.

The main game loop

From here, Insomnia opens out. Explore nearby areas, pick fights you can survive, collect what monsters leave behind and turn that progress into a stronger character.

Experience lets you train skills and improve stats in your class hall. As you advance in level, more class abilities and spells become available. Stronger monsters bring greater experience and rewards—but exploration, quests, crafting and conversation are all part of the world too. Combat is the spine of progression, not the whole personality of the game.