Hamilton Simulator in Roblox lets you sing enemies to death with characters from the musical

Thanks to the hit musical, we all know and love the story of Alexander Hamilton. Starting life as an orphan, he sailed to America, where he sang at British soldiers until they died and dropped gold coins, which he used to buy all his friends and family from a gacha machine until he became a Founding Father. It's a tale as old as time.

At least I'm assuming that's the story, and that the newly released Hamilton Simulator for Roblox is therefore 100% faithful. Developed by major Roblox creator Super League, it's essentially a light RPG featuring the music and locations of the musical, in which you collect the cast as companion characters who follow you around and battle for you. According to a report by the AP, it even has the blessing of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda himself.

The good news is, despite the gacha system for unlocking characters, the game doesn't demand any Robux—the premium currency of Roblox—meaning it's completely free to play. You just need to sign up for a Roblox account, and you can jump right in to murdering Redcoats with Hercules Mulligan's deep and powerful voice.

There's not much to it, to be honest—it's almost an idle game, as you can just park yourself in front of respawning British soldiers and let your crew take them out and gather coins while you simply stand there. But there's a surreal edge to it that's weirdly compelling, from watching all the blocky characters jerkily bob up and down to the beat of the backing track, to seeing other players sprinting around with endless clones of John Laurens and Elizabeth Schuyler trailing behind them. If you can think of a better way of learning about American history, frankly I'd like to hear it.