Progress Quest

Progress Quest is perhaps the most honest RPG ever made. There is no heroic button mashing, no complicated inventory management and absolutely no need to decide what your character should actually do. You create a character, choose a few basic options and then watch the adventure happen entirely by itself. Your hero gains levels, finds equipment, defeats monsters and becomes increasingly impressive while you contribute absolutely nothing. It is a parody of MMORPG grinding, taking repetitive progression to its logical and wonderfully ridiculous conclusion. The joke works because the game looks just enough like a conventional RPG to make its complete lack of interaction hilarious. If you have ever wondered what happens when an RPG removes the player, Progress Quest has the answer.

“Progress Quest is an antic and fantastical computer role-playing game, well worth the time you'll spend playing it. And it won't cost you a farthing!” - Eric Fredricksen

Review by Game Hippo:

“Progress Quest was designed to be an RPG that would make progress with or without the player. All of the so-called boring parts were eliminated. Fighting is automatic, selling to shops is automatic, quests are automatic, and everything else is automatic too. The primary difference between Progress Quest and StatBuilder is that Progress Quest doesn't make you push buttons and actually keeps track of stats, equipment, and money realisticly. Despite the lack of interaction, Progress Quest does have an online version (lacks player interaction but allows for high scores) and the ability to save the game. Merely leave Progress Quest on network play overnight (or longer) and you may be able to obtain a high score.“

Progress Quest key features: