World of Warcraft, the world biggest MMO for the PC is currently celebrating its fifth birthday at this year’s BlizCon. I got all nostalgic and as such I decided to go back to where it all began, way back in 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. This is game looks a lot like the current RuneScape but it still has the charm that later versions in the Warcraft series held on to.

You can download the demo to play the game yourself right here, but don’t expect packed servers as there once was in 1994.

When I logged in I took in everything around me. The top down view at a slightly offset angle is aeons away from what we enjoy today and the graphics are merely a group of pixelated spots that move when you move, keeping your character roughly central to the screen.

The missions and quests are basic but still have a bit of charm and magic to them. The building which you are constantly sent around include a town hall (which both the orcs and the humans have only one of), the barracks and other buildings.

I only got as far as doing menial tasks such as mining and repairing buildings until it was time for me to put away the old Windows 95 laptop that doesn’t hold a charge and barely starts up at all. What didn’t get shoved away in the wardrobe was the better understanding I have of why 11 Million people now play the game that started on old IBM servers with a few people per server.