Online gaming is supposed to be a platform for players to enjoy the experience of playing a computer game with other people. Unfortunately, these days, far too many “online” and “social” games pit players against NPC opponents to the extent that they never need to interact with others, unless they are looking at the leader board. You could almost say that the so called “social games” which started the browser based gaming revolution have actually turned gaming anti-social. Recently, however, there have been several browser based games which force players to work together; Indomitus is one of those games.

Indomitus takes place around the fall of the Roman Empire, during a period in history known as the Barbarian Invasion Period. Presently, players can play as the Huns, Gauls, Goths, or Vandals. You play the part of a warlord in a somewhat disorganized tribe of barbarians, building up resources, training your armies, and eventually conquering all of Europe. You can create your account here or play it on Facebook.

While this may sound like the same “social strategy game” we always hear about, Indomitus has a different take on the genre. Though not a social game in the traditional sense, Indomitus is far more social than others. The goal of the game is to take every city on the map, together, with your fellow tribesmen. From day one it becomes very clear that you cannot do this by yourself. Players do not control cities, but manors within cities. This allows the game to do away with the newbie protection feature that seems typical for any browser-based game these days.

In fact, the tribe isn’t actually where most of the team work happens. Your tribe merely functions as a house for various guilds, all which have their own agendas and style of play, adding a very human element to the game. Sure your guild may agree not to attack a neighboring tribe, but if you cannot convince the others guilds to join your treaty, the peace will not last long. This adds a uniquely human element to the game.

Attacks on cities happen in mass, usually planned hours or days ahead of time. Because of this, the game sports a unique feature which allows you to deploy your troops far ahead of schedule, allowing you to participate in an attack even when you can’t be online, allowing elite and casual players to work together.

The game has been in open beta for about one month now, and so far, the player community seems to really enjoy it. Supposedly Koramgame, the company behind Indomitus, plans to open another server this month. If you want to start a new server and not look like a total newbie, now would be a great time to learn how to play.