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Browser game

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Play.Freeciv.org screenshot
The browser version ofFreeciv

Abrowser gameis avideo gamethat is played via theinternetusing aweb browser.[1]They are mostlyfree-to-playand can besingle-playerormultiplayer.Alternative names for the browser game genre reference their software platform used, with common examples beingFlash games,[2]andHTML5games.[3][4]

Some browser games are also available asmobile apps,PC games,or onconsoles.Forusers,the advantage of the browser version is not having to install the game; the browser automaticallydownloadsthe necessary content from the game'swebsite.However, the browser version may have fewer features or inferiorgraphicscompared to the others, which are usuallynativeapps. Browser games also had a huge influence onindependent video games.

Thefront endof a browser game is what runs in the user's browser. It is implemented with the standard web technologies ofHTML,CSS,JavaScript,andWebAssembly.In addition,WebGLandWebGPUenable more sophisticated graphics. On the back end, numerousservertechnologies can be used.

Most browser games were originally created withAdobe Flash,but as Adobe Flash was shut down on December 31, 2020, specialbrowser plug-insare now required.[5][6][7]Thousands of these games have beenpreservedby theFlashpointproject.[8][9]

Early browser games

[edit]

When the Internet first became widely available and initial web browsers with basicHTMLsupport were released, the earliest browser games were similar to text-basedMulti-User Dungeons (MUDs),minimizing interactions to what implemented through simple browser controls but supporting online interactions with other players through a basicclient–server model.[10]One of the first known examples of a browser game wasEarth 2025,first released in 1995. It featured only text but allowed players to interact and form alliances with other players of the game.[11]

The Flash era

[edit]

Browser technology quickly began to mature in the mid-1990s with support for browser plug-ins and the introduction ofJavaScript.More advanced browser interactions, unbounded by the restrictions of HTML and that used client-side processing were possible. Among other browser extensions, these new plug-ins allowed uses to runappletsmade in theJava languageand interactive animations created inMacromedia Flash.These technologies were initially intended to provide web page developers tools to create fully immersive, interactive websites, though this use fell out of favor as it was considered elitism and broke expected browsing behavior. Instead, these technologies found use by programmers to create small browser games among other unexpected uses such as general animation tools.[12][13]

Sites began to emerge in the late 1990s to collect these browser games and other works, such asSun Microsystems'HotJava.[14]These sites started to become a popular commodity as they drew web visitors.Microsoftacquired one such site, The Village, in 1996, and rebranded it as theInternet Gaming Zone,offering various card and board browser games.[15]ClassicGameswas created in 1997 to host a selection of classic, Java-based onlinemultiplayer gamessuch as chess and checkers; its popularity ledYahoo!to purchase the site in 1998 and rebranding it as Yahoo! Games.[15]

In 1999,Tom Fulpkickstarted the Flash games scene with the release of the gamePico's Schoolon his siteNewgroundsthat featured a "complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development" of the time.[16][17][18]

Many Flash games in the late 1990s and early 2000s received attention through the use of shock comedy orreal-world events,likeMcDonald's Videogame,a satire ofMcDonald's'business practices, orDarfur is Dying,about theWar in Darfur,Sudan.In 2017, Julie Muncy writing forWiredsaid, "Flash games lent themselves to the exaggerated and cartoonish, a style that eventually evolved into an affection-at least amongst its best creators-for beautiful grotesquerie. Like much of the younger gaming internet, Flash games defined boundaries simply to cross them; the best titles straddled a weird line between innocence and cruelty, full of gorgeous gore and enthralling body horror".[19]InPico's School,based on theColumbine shootings,the player must take down agothschool shooter.[20]There are a few other controversies involving browser games and real-world events, such as the 2007Virginia Tech shootingreenactmentV-Tech Rampage,[21]andNRACEOWayne LaPierretargeting the gameKindergarten Killersafter the2012 Sandy Hook shootings.[22]

Expansion of broadband connectivity in the early 2000s drew more people to play browser games through these sites, as well as added attention asviral phenomenon.[23][24]New sites likeKongregateandArmor Gamesarose for hosting Flash-based games while also offering their own titles,[25]while companies likePopCap GamesandKinglaunched their own portals featuring titles they had developed.Social mediasites also drove more players to browser games.Facebook,after launching in 2004, added support for browser game functionality that integrated with itssocial networkfeatures, creatingsocial network games,notably withZynga'sFarmville.[26]The success of browser games did hurt some developers.Humongous Entertainmentreported that they lost players to Flash games in the early 2000s.[27]

Flash games were considered to have hit their peak in the mid-2000s but waned by the early 2010s.[25]Their popularity had fallen due to two primary causes. First was the introduction ofmobile gaming,primarily with Apple'siPhonerelease in 2007 and the availability of theApp Store.Through the App Store, anyone could release apps for the iPhone, and with the addition ofin-app purchases,new revenue models such asfree-to-playquickly emerged for mobile games, well surpassing the current ad-driven revenue model of browser games.Googleused the same concepts for developing theAndroidstorefrontPlay Store.Developers either augmented browser games or shifted to the mobile platform to take advantage of the new revenue opportunities; notably, King transitioned one of its browser games into one of the most successful mobile games,Candy Crush Saga.[28]The second factor came from the claimed "death knell" for Adobe Flash by way ofSteve Jobs'open letter to Adobein 2010, stating that Apple would not support Flash on the iPhone platform due to security concerns and other factors. About a year after Jobs' letter, Adobe announced it would start deprecating Flash and transition users toHTML5and other open standards in its other products.[29]Adobe completely shut down Flash by January 12, 2021 after giving web developers a few years to prepare for this event.[30]With little future in Flash, developers moved away from the browser platform in the mid 2010s.

As forAdobe Flashgames, various collections of such games can be found. Even though Adobe Flash is "broken" and hard to launch after 2021, one can use alternatives, such asthe Flashpoint Archive.

Indie games

[edit]

Browser games were an important platform for the emergence ofindie games.In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the video game industry had started to coalesce aroundtriple-Adevelopment, games made by large studios with multi-million dollar budgets. Because of the money involved, the industry took few risks in these major titles, and experimental games were generally overlooked.[31]Browser games gave a venue for such titles during the early 2000s, and the broader interest in-browser games by the mid-2000s highlighted several of these titles. Subsequently, a number of early indie games are those based on browser games, such asThe Behemoth'sCastle Crashers,inspired by Newgrounds'Alien HominidandEdmund McMillen'sSuper Meat Boybased on hisMeat Boybrowser game.[25]Other indie developers got their start in browser and Flash games, includingVlambeer,Bennett Foddy,andMaddy Thorson.[25]

Post-Flash browser games

[edit]

Post-2010, browser games written in other formats besides Flash remain popular, such as HTML5,WebGL,andWebAssembly.[32]The.io domain,which was first used in 2015 byAgar.io,has become a popular domain attached to browser games, because of its short length, the ease of acquiring the domain, and the association with programming because "io" can also stand forinput/output.[33]Subsequently, these game developers have found ways to monetize their work by creating versions for mobile devices or other platforms which they can sell.[33]

.io games

[edit]

.io gamesorIO gamesare a genre of free,online multiplayerthat gained popularity with the success ofAgar.ioin 2015.[34]The games are usually characterized by simple graphics and gameplay in a free for all multiplayer arena. The term ".io" comes from the.io domain,which was originally assigned to theBritish Indian Ocean Territory[35]but became popular for game developers due to its short and memorable nature.

Thousands of.io games exist, and many of them have been subject to controversy for both political use and lack of moderation.[36][undue weight?–discuss]

History

[edit]
.io domain logo

First.io games

[edit]

Agar.io

[edit]

Agar.iois considered the first ever.io game. The game was announced on4chanon 27 April, 2015 by Matheus Valadares,[37]a then 19-year-old Brazilian developer. In the game, players control one or more circular cells in a map representing aPetri dish.The goal is to gain as much mass as possible by eating cells and player cells smaller than the player's cell while avoiding larger ones which can eat the player's cells.

Agar.iowent viral, and was featured on the free online games siteMiniclip.[36]The mobile version ofAgar.ioforiOSwas released on 8 July 2015 andAndroidon 7 July 2015 by Miniclip. The browser version was released in June 2015 byCrazyGames.[38]TheYouTuberPewDiePiecreated a video titled "REDDIT WANTS TO EAT ME! (Agario Part 1) | PewDiePie," which has over 8.5 million views as of July 2024.[39]The creation and quickly-growing popularity ofAgar.io[40][41]led to the creation of similar games using the.io domain, and eventually the.io game genre.[34]

Slither.io

[edit]

Slither.iowas the second.io game to be released, which is a free for all multiplayer game that is in theSnakegenre. The basic premise of the game has 50 players compete to eat colored orbs and grow as large as possible, while destroying other player's snakes.[42]The game was created in 2016 by Steven Howse, a self-taught independent developer who was inspired to make it after playingAgar.io.The game quickly rose to be the top game on many platforms.[43]

.io games as a genre

[edit]

Starting in around 2016, soon after the popularity spikes ofAgar.ioandSlither.io,more games in the.io games genre began to be released. Many of these games were simpleclonesof popular games, usually released in a top down-format.[34]Some notable games released in this period includeDiep.io(another game by Matheus Valadares),[44]ZombsRoyale.io,[45]Krunker.io, Wings.io,Surviv.io,Hole.io,andSnake.io.These games all remain popular and are some of the most played games in the.io games genre.

COVID-19

[edit]

During COVID-19,.io games became very popular because of their accessibility on the web. Most games, not just.io games, however, also experienced growth during this time.[46]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^D Schultheiss:Long-term motivations to play MMOGs: A longitudinal study on motivations, experience and behavior,page 344. DiGRA, 2007.
  2. ^Pot, Justin."How to Play All of Those Old Flash Games You Remember".Wired.
  3. ^"GameSnacks are Google's new HTML5 games designed for bad internet connections".14 February 2020.
  4. ^"Korean game startup Pangalore targets HTML5 games".15 November 2011.
  5. ^"Google Chrome 88 released: RIP Flash Player".Retrieved29 January2021.
  6. ^"End of support for Adobe Flash".Mozilla.Retrieved9 April2021.
  7. ^Tyagi, Anubhav (2021-11-11)."15 Best Adobe Flash Player Alternatives/Replacement In 2024".TechWorm.Retrieved2024-04-27.
  8. ^Bailey, Dustin (February 1, 2020)."Every Flash game disappears forever in 2020 – but this project has preserved 38,000 of them".PCGamesN.RetrievedFebruary 1,2020.
  9. ^Morton, Lauren (January 31, 2020)."Flashpoint launcher is saving Flash games from impending extinction".Rock Paper Shotgun.RetrievedFebruary 1,2020.
  10. ^Vanhatupa, Juha-Matti (2010)."Browser games for online communities".International Journal of Wireless & Mobile Networks.2(3): 39–47.doi:10.5121/ijwmn.2010.2303.
  11. ^Berzon, Alexandra (January 13, 2011)."Jared Lee Loughner's Secret Online Life on Earth Empires".The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedMarch 30,2021.
  12. ^Fox, Chris (December 31, 2020)."Adobe Flash Player is finally laid to rest".BBC News.RetrievedDecember 31,2020.
  13. ^Lawhead, Nathalie (November 24, 2020)."The forgotten Flash Website movement (when websites were 'the new emerging artform')".Gamasutra.RetrievedNovember 24,2020.
  14. ^Maiberg, Emanuel; Smith, Ernie (2017-08-10)."Yahoo! Games' Demise Shows What the Death of Flash Could Feel Like".Vice.Retrieved2019-07-10.
  15. ^ab"Come Into the Online Parlor, Relax With Board Games Like Checkers, Chess".Los Angeles Times.1997-10-09.ISSN0458-3035.Retrieved2019-07-10.
  16. ^Moss, Richard C. (7 July 2020)."The rise and fall of Adobe Flash".Ars Technica.Retrieved7 August2021.
  17. ^Salter, Anastasia (2014).Flash: building the interactive web.Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 74–75.ISBN9780262028028.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ^Williams, Andrew (2017).History of digital games: developments in art, design and interaction.Boca Raton, FL.ISBN9781138885530.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  19. ^Muncy, Julie (2017-07-29)."You Might Not Miss Flash, But Videogames Will".Wired.ISSN1059-1028.Retrieved2019-07-11.
  20. ^Murray, Anastasia Salter, John (2014-11-29)."How Flash Games Shaped the Internet".The Atlantic.Retrieved2019-07-11.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^"Virtual school shootings: interviewing two of the most hated game creators alive".destructoid.Archived fromthe originalon 2016-04-18.Retrieved2017-10-01.
  22. ^"NRA blames video games like 'Kindergarten Killer' for Sandy Hook".NY Daily News.Retrieved2017-10-01.
  23. ^"Casual games make a serious impact".2008-03-18.Retrieved2019-07-10.
  24. ^Koebler, Jason (2015-04-10)."Gone in a Flash: The Race to Save the Internet's Least Favorite Tool".Vice.Retrieved2019-07-10.
  25. ^abcdReeves, Ben (December 22, 2018)."How Flash Games Changed Video Game History".Game Informer.Archived fromthe originalon December 26, 2018.RetrievedMarch 31,2021.
  26. ^Good, Owen S. (2017-07-08)."The rise and fall of Flash gaming, explained".Polygon.Retrieved2019-07-10.
  27. ^Clark, Nicole; Walker, Austin; Zacny, Rob (2019-05-09)."From 'Putt Putt' to 'Freddi Fish'—How Humongous Entertainment Made Edutainment Fun".Vice.Retrieved2019-07-11.
  28. ^Takihashi, Dean (August 18, 2014)."Lessons from a game guru: Candy Crush Saga creator once survived six months without pay".Venture Beat.RetrievedOctober 20,2016.
  29. ^Gross, Doug (November 9, 2011)."Did Steve Jobs kill Adobe Flash?".CNN.RetrievedFebruary 4,2021.
  30. ^"Flash & The Future of Interactive Content".Adobe Inc.July 25, 2017. Archived fromthe originalon December 2, 2017.RetrievedJuly 1,2019.
  31. ^Cobbett, Richard (September 22, 2017)."From shareware superstars to the Steam gold rush: How indie conquered the PC".PC Gamer.RetrievedSeptember 25,2017.
  32. ^Koebler, Jason (2017-07-26)."Flash Will Never Die".Vice.Retrieved2019-07-10.
  33. ^abCastello, Jay (February 22, 2018)."The rise and rise of.io games".Rock Paper Shotgun.RetrievedMarch 30,2021.
  34. ^abc"A brief history of" IO "games | PacoGames".PacoGames.2018-11-14.Retrieved2024-07-29.
  35. ^IDN Code Points Policy for the.IO Top Level Domain(PDF),NIC.IO, archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2005-12-18,retrieved2005-12-11
  36. ^abCastello, Jay (2018-02-22)."The rise and rise of.io games".Rock, Paper, Shotgun.Retrieved2024-07-29.
  37. ^"The story of Agar.io | Gamehag".gamehag.Retrieved2024-07-29.
  38. ^"Agar.io 🕹️ Play on CrazyGames".crazygames.Retrieved2023-09-27.
  39. ^PewDiePie (2015-05-30).REDDIT WANTS TO EAT ME! (Agario Part 1) | PewDiePie.Retrieved2024-07-29– via YouTube.
  40. ^Lindsey, Cameron (March 2019)."Agar.io: The Game's in the Name".Games and Culture.14(2): 154–169.doi:10.1177/1555412018821483.S2CID150281404.Archivedfrom the original on 5 May 2023.Retrieved5 May2023.
  41. ^Burgess, Matt (April 12, 2016)."How addictive simplicity made Agar.io a global hit".Wired UK.RetrievedMay 5,2023.
  42. ^Switzer, Eric (2019-07-09)."Where Slither.io Came From And Why It's So Popular".TheGamer.Retrieved2024-07-29.
  43. ^"Slither.io Traffic, Demographics and Competitors".Alexa Internet.Archived fromthe originalon May 21, 2017.RetrievedMarch 14,2017.
  44. ^Hodapp, Eli (21 July 2016)."'Diep.io' Hits the App Store From the Creator of 'Agar.io'".TouchArcade.Retrieved2023-05-05.
  45. ^Madnani, Mikhail (May 11, 2018)."'ZombsRoyale.io' Is a 2D Top Down Battle Royale That Blends 'PUBG' and 'Fortnite, Available Now on iOS ".TouchArcade.RetrievedApril 23,2019.
  46. ^"The Gang | The Gaming Industry After Covid-19".thegang.io.Retrieved2024-07-29.
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