Parallels Between Travian and the Game of Life

Travian is an online game that only requires a browser to run, has millions of players around the world, and has won the Superbrowsergame Award. I believe that much of its popularity owes itself to the similarities that it has with the game of life.

Every player is supposed to be a leader in Travian. He starts with a small village with only two people and it requires some organization and management skills to grow this into a flourishing city. After the construction of a Palace or Residence to an appropriate level, the user would be able to train settlers whom he would send to a new location to found another village. In this way, the player could grow his “kingdom” until he could have thousands, or even a million, inhabitants in his kingdom.

To grow his village, the player must be able to properly manage his crop fields, clay mines, iron mines, and timber areas. At the start of the game, these fields are in an undeveloped state. The player has to get the necessary resources to upgrade them and make them produce at a faster rate. The production rate of these resources must be balanced, particularly with regards to food production because as he develops them, more people are required and thus more food is needed.

Another factor that the player must consider is the training of troops. Both defensive and offensive soldiers are needed and here the personality of the player is revealed by looking at the number of offensive troops versus defensive troops. Aggressive players usually have more offensive troops. However, the player must again balance this based on the requirements of his situation. Training troops requires resources. Thus, the game is made more complicated because the player must decide whether to use the resources for training troops or upgrading his resource fields.

As expected, not many people have the leadership, management, and organization skills required in the game just as in life. Thus, many Travian players have villages that only end up as “farms” of other villages. Since this is a war game, the stronger villages usually attack the weaker villages to get their resources. This results in the “farms” stagnating in their development while the stronger villages grow faster and stronger. Many such players ultimately decide to leave the game and delete their villages.

In real life, people who fail to organize and manage their lives and those who lack leadership skills stagnate. They are those who complain that life is not fair. Amazingly, I have met many players who complain and even utter foul language when they are attacked. These players usually end up having their villages destroyed by the strong players.

Since players are able to communicate with each other, Travian is astonishingly similar to real life. I have met some players who are able to make their lives easier by negotiating with the strong players. Some join other players in an alliance in an effort to have some protection. In the alliances, the leadership qualities of some players are further revealed as they take on responsibilities in the management of the alliance.

So much can be learned from the game of Travian. That is why people from all walks of life and ages have come to love the game.