What is a Mush?[]
In the simplest of terms, a MUSH is a game. However, it is a game in which multiple users can connect and interact in real time much like most MMO. 'MUSH' is often mentioned as meaning Multi User Shared Hallucination.
The MUSH server acts as a host to which many players can connect via telnet or a client program to the game. There are numerous client programs available across almost every platform.
A MUSH is comprised of two main components:
1. Players 2. Rooms
A Player is a Character created by you, the user. Characters are uniquely named objects which can connect to the game via a client or telnet (see below for client recommendations). These characters are often similiar to a character you would play in an RPG. They can have descriptions, possessions, movitivations and anything else you can picture an RPG character having.
A Room is a chunk of the game world. It can be a tavern, a road, a mountain top, a dungeon or any other physical space. Rooms are the main areas in which Players and Things exist. These rooms have descriptions which convey what the room is and how it appears.
MUSHes often vary in terms of what they are. Many MUSHes are games centered around a theme based on popular fiction or Role Playing Games. Others are used mostly for socialization or chat between players. The game administrators, or wizards, define what the game will be as they create it.
How do I Connect?[]
If you really wanted you could connect using Telnet that's installed in someform on almost any computer, but that's not really suggested. There are different clients that people use in order to connect up to mushes. One of the more common ones to see used on windows machines is MushClient, though there are also quite a few people who use SimpleMU as well. For other systems you can use Atlantis for Mac systems and Tinyfugue on linux. There are a lot more besides these, but those seem to be the most commonly used per system.