After downloading the game, I found that I didn't quite exactly land feet first in Egypt. Moreover, I was stranded on an island, having to build a ferry to make my way to the fabled lands. Urgh. Easier said than done for a first timer.

So, on this island (aptly named Newbie Island), I set about making a ferry. There were two schools to learn the necessary skills as well as getting some free flax seeds. Growing flax was easy after a mentor came to help me. Mentors are players who come back to the islands to help newcomers out. They do this as part of the game, as there is a School of Leadership you can train in, or simply to help the new players settle in.

Anyway, it was about 6 hours later that I finally completed my ferry. I had to gather food, mine slate along the shoreline, process the rotten flax into tow and lint, spin them into twine and thread and finally weave it into linen and canvas. Phew! So, I got my stuff built and was ready to head off into the golden lands! Only to find myself with so many choices! Gulp! The next screen showed a lot of spots to drop into. After deciding on a guild in Pharaoh's Bay, I landed in Egypt. Boy, was it an eye-opener.

I arrived in Egypt in the middle of the night - it took a bit of getting used to the dark. Still, I made contact with another player and joined his guild. I made a home on the upper lands of Egypt, along the tip of the Nile river. It's a beautiful and scenic place with loads of space all around.

The land itself mimics Egypt in Ancient Days, where the most fertile land are along the riverbanks of the Nile River. There are also many empty desert plots with occasional oasis popping up now and again. Some places are very hilly, others not so. There is the added fact that the landscape changes over time. One day, there's a hill or you'll find that the desert has reached your home nearer and nearer. Perhaps, you'll some strange plants and trees have grown.

Getting from one place to another is done via roads and you running on them, or waiting at the Chariot Stops in each of the 12 regions for the ride to arrive. If you're really impatient, use Travel Time to travel the distance. Travel Time is earned while offline from the game.

What does one do in Egypt? Well, the game revolves around two central characters. One is the Pharaoh (played by Andrew Tepper, the game developer) who extols his subjects (we players) to work together in harmony to excel in 7 Disciplines. On the other hand, there is also Gharib the Stranger who laughs at the community and sets up challenges and restrictions at every turn.

What are the 7 Disciplines? These are the Discipline of Architecture, Art & Music, Body, Conflict, Leadership, Thought and Worship. For each of these disciplines, there are Universities and Schools in each major region. Technologies are taught at Universities, provided that they have been researched completely. Research usually entails the local community donating massive amounts of materials to open up a New Technology. On the other hand, Schools will teach Skills at a fixed tuition fee that may or may not be easy to gather.

Gharib built the tests; he designed a total of 49 tests, 7 tests per each discipline. The tests are released every 2-4 weeks, either during a major game event or in the quiet stillness. These test releases are announced by Gharib, the man himself, in the Events Channel. During the time following these announcements, there are intense activities while players attempt to get an edge over each other.

How does one go about it? Well, each Discipline has it's own theme. Some of them are doable individually. Others are not so easy and require the help of many to make it work out. To start off the discipline, each player is required to pass the Rites of Initiation in order to proceed next.

Architecture is oriented around building the largest and the most in quantity. Art & Music require a bit more creativity in that you'll need to create beautiful artwork and music and potray them out for the community to vote on. Body requires one to run along looking for around for mushrooms, bugs, animals or performing feats (like aerobics) to improve the Human Body. Conflict is a competitive by nature, where you pit your abilities against others. Leadership will test your negotiation and persuasion skills to the maximum. Thought requires intense thinking of completing puzzles before finally voting on the winning puzzle design. Worship is a very intense resource gathering that is required for sacrifice to the Gods.

This is a very co-operative type of game where the community is generally very friendly and helpful. There is also the added benefit of joining more than one guild. There are specific oriented guilds like the Safari Hunting Association to coordinate animal sightings for the Test of Safari (Discipline of Body). Or there are just plain chat guilds like the huge Nileside Lounge whose goal is to make Egypt a less lonely place. There are also regional Meta-Guilds which coordinate teams to gather materials to unlock new technologies.

With a non-combat oriented theme, a new player is suddenly faced with a lot of information to digest. However, all is not in vain. As mentioned earlier, there are Mentors available in-game who will help newcomers get on the correct track. Mentors are people who are pursuing the Leadership Discipline as many of those tests are oriented around people's votes. On most occasions though, people are generally friendly enough to respond back with a kind word or helpful hand.

The thing to remember is this is a non-combat game. The entire game challenge is oriented around gathering resources, using your wit and brains, plus a bit of maneuvering in negotiation and diplomatic skills with a dash of luck in place. If there ever was an intense community game, A Tale in the Desert is certainly one of the more popular ones.