89/100
Players63 ratings: 70/100
Critics1 review

Where to get it

Steam

2004 · Ankama · Adventure · Fantasy

Dofus

Dofus is a tactical turn-oriented massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Ankama Games. It is primarily a pay-to-play game, though it still offers a limited amount of free content.

Released: 1 September 2004
Platforms: Browser Linux Windows macOS
Genres: Adventure Fantasy MMORPG Role-playing Strategy
Developers: Ankama
Publishers: Ankama
Modes: Co-op Multiplayer
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Fantasy
Country: France
Age ratings: PEGI 12
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain)

About

Dofus is a tactical turn-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Ankama Games, a French video game manufacturer. Originally released only in French, it has since been translated into many other languages. The game includes both pay-to-play accounts offering the full experience and free-to-play accounts offering a more limited amount of content. Its success has led to the marketing of spin-off products, such as books, art, comics and a movie released in 2016.

It has also led to the development of two continuations: Dofus Arena, released at the beginning of 2006, which is an alternative "tournament" version of Dofus; and Wakfu, a sequel to Dofus. The game has attracted over 40 million players worldwide and is especially well known in France.

›Story

A long time ago a dragon named Bolgrot arrived in the eternal Province of Amakna. The young Rykke Errel was the only one courageous enough to face the terrible creature. Instead of reducing him to dust as it could easily have done, the dragon bowed down before the young knight and swore loyalty to him.

Months passed by and Rykke met Helsephine, a young enchantress, and fell madly in love with her. When he introduced Helsephine to Bolgrot, Rykke would never have guessed what was about to happen. The dragon, mad with rage, killed the sweet Helsephine and flew away, destroying everything on its way.

Rykke chased the dragon into his cave. When he found it, the old friends confronted each other in a titanic fight. Using his weapons and magic, Rykke succeeded bringing Bolgrot down. But fatally injured, the young hero died short after.

Looking for an explanation about the sudden violence of Bolgrot, the wise men of Amakna discovered within the entrails of the dragon six unusually colored eggs that were called DOFUS. Later on, it was discovered that when these eggs were reunited their power was absolute. Absolute, but also unstable. The wise men decided to conceal those terrible relics from the rest of the world.

During the following centuries, the secret of the existence of the DOFUS was so well kept that people eventually forgot all about them. But a cursed day among others, the guardians of the secret discovered that the DOFUS had disappeared. The news quickly spread, arousing terror and covetousness. It didn't take long for adventurers to show up in Amakna, attracted by the prospect of glory or plunder. From then on, the destiny of Amakna was uncertain and the appearance of numerous creatures as terrifying as they're unknown added to the confusion.

Keywords

magic
pets
online
free-to-play
customizable characters
bow and arrow
non-player character
character creation
questing
potion
igf awards
never-ending

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Dofus takes place in "The World of Twelve", named for the 12 gods that inhabit it. Players control a 2D avatar belonging to one of 19 character classes in a third-person view. Each class has a unique set of spells that other classes can not obtain. As with most other massively multiplayer online role-playing games, players gain levels by obtaining experience.

Experience can be gained by defeating monsters and completing quests. With each level, players gain points that can be used to improve their avatar's characteristics and spells. Players can access new spells and equipment by advancing in level. Players receive a special 'aura' when they reach level 100, and gain a different aura at 200, the maximum level.

Story

Dofus takes place in the World of Twelve, a High fantasy universe. Players must find the six primordial Dofus, dragon eggs that confer great power on their bearer, which are scattered across the world. The game features an open world that allows for a high level of player autonomy. Players can choose to engage in Player versus player combat, Player versus environment combat, or participate in the game's economy by obtaining and/or trading in-game items.

Dofus is the first Ankama product to take place in the transmedia world of the Krosmoz. From this first success will appear many derivative products, including two other video games, Arena in 2011 then Wakfu the following year, a television show (Wakfu, Dofus: Aux trésors de Kerubim) and a movie (Dofus, book 1: Julith).

Development

Dofus began development in 2001 as the first title of Ankama games. The title was developed in Adobe Flash at their office in Roubaix by a small team, and ran from within a browser. 80,000 players were involved in the beta test, ahead of the French launch in 2004 and an international launch in September 2005. By 2007 Dofus had reached 3 million players, and by 2008, Dofus was the sixth most subscribed MMO in the world.

Dofus underwent a major overhaul in 2009, with the 2.0 update changing the graphics systems and netcode, as well as featuring a new soundtrack. The update retained the Flash platform. By 2010, Dofus had reached 30 million registered players, with around 3.5 million active subscribers at that time. Retro servers, which remained at version 1.29 of the game and were not supported with further updates, launched in 2016.

Reception

The game received "positive" reviews, according to video game review aggregator platform Metacritic. Dofus has also received international gaming awards including the Bytten Ernie Award for Best Graphics And Concept Art in 2007 and the Audience Award at the Independent Game Festival in 2006.

Best game and Public Choice at the Flash festival in France in May 2004.