What is Whispers in Akarra?

Whispers in Akarra (or WiA for short) was a minimalist graphics MMO created by jeb (y'know, the guy who worked on Minecraft?) a long time ago. 2002-03 to be precise. For how early in the development cycle it was (it never made it out of Alpha, sadly), it was jam packed full of features: functional party system, guilds, several hundreds of items, quests, and a lot more. Sure, it wasn't the prettiest to look at, but that's what made it so charming. From an outsider's perspective, you may not see the appeal, but I assure you that playing it, especially with other people, may have you change your mind.

Why host a server?

If I'm being completely honest, it's purely nostalgic for me. I spent countless hours rushing home from school and hanging with one of my best friends playing this game non-stop. I'm not sure why it was so appealing to me... I just enjoyed it. It's hard to explain. I know it seems crazy, but I'd love to see all of the old players I remember come back and play, if for nothing else than to reconnect with everyone again. A lot has changed in nearly 20 years. My love for this game has not.

Where is it hosted? How often will the server be on?

It's hosted on Amazon Web Services. The beauty of this game being so old is that it will run on just about anything as long as the prerequisites are available. I picked up a super tiny server (1 CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 30 GB of SSD), and am running with it. I honestly don't see a need for more unless more players show up and it shows signs of slowing down, but for now, that's all that's required for a seamless experience. The beauty of it? Since it's on a cloud host, I can run it 24/7. This server will always be on (as long as it doesn't crash).

Take a look at the screenshots or download the client and tinker around. It's free, after all. It may not suit your fancy as it did my little 16-year-old heart back in the day, but the game was charming, ambitious, and a ton of fun to play with friends. Enjoy!

Whispers in Akarra - Mostly Vanilla Version (A2b) screenshots