It’s a game where you play a role. (See how easy this is?)

Actually, if you asked three different gamers for the definition of a roleplaying game, you’d probably get four different answers.

One might say that games like the Final Fantasy series are roleplaying games, or perhaps the Baldur’s Gate series on PC.

The Baldur’s Gate player might also point out that their game is based on what most people call the ‘father’ of roleplaying games’ - the Dungeons & Dragons game, which is also known as a ‘tabletop’, or ‘pen and paper’ roleplaying game. (So called because they’re played on tables with… ah, you’re catching on now.)

Our final gamer might point out that there are also these massively multiplayer roleplaying games, and that they’re very similar to PC roleplaying games (like Baldur’s Gate) only loads of people play them at once.

Of course, none of them would have actually told you what a roleplaying game is.

There’s a few different ways to define what a roleplaying game is, but the one I prefer is this: did you ever play cops and robbers? You know, you run around as a kid pretending to be a cop, and your friend would be the evil robber. You’d point your finger at them, say “Bang! You’re dead!” and they’d fall over clutching their chests in mock pain.

Well, in a roleplaying game the same sort of thing happens, only without the running, the clutching or the falling over. Without going into a history of the hobby (we’ll let others do that) suffice to say in our modern day, massively multiplayer roleplaying games, everyone gets to pretend to be someone else, and the computers figure out who gets to fall over clutching their chests in mock pain.

Put simply: in City of Heroes you get to play the role of a super-powered hero, battling evil alongside many other heroes, played by other people.

There’s still no requirement to run around, although we find that’s pretty good for relieving stress and getting exercise.