Salem is not your typical MMORPG. In most MMOs, let alone MMORPGs, you learn by dying and going to find your body, mystically resurrecting yourself back to life. This is not the case in Salem.

In Salem, if you die, that’s it. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve achieved with your character is gone because death is permanent in Salem. You read that right – this MMORPG features permadeath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTjxp06UlWg

One of the other really cool features of Salem is that the game is a fully realized sandbox. Everything in the world can be modified, moved, manipulated, and so on. The key thing to survival is building a home, alone or with close friends.

Something of note with Salem’s development – the game is currently being developed by two guys in Sweden, quite the undertaking for just two people. The game was originally being developed by Paradox Interactive, development was handed off to Seatribe to help make sure the game would be finally completed. In doing this, Paradox also separated from the title completely.

If you want to play the colonial era MMORPG, you can do so by registering and downloading their game client via the official website.