Abrowser game is avideo game that is played on theinternet using aweb browser.[1] They are sometimes referred to more specifically by their format, such asFlash games[2] orHTML5 games.[3] They are generallyfree-to-play and can be eithersingle-player ormultiplayer.[4] It is not necessary to install a browser game; simply visiting the webpage will run the title in a browser. Some browser games were also made available asmobile apps,PC games, orconsole titles. However, the browser version may have fewer features or inferiorgraphics compared to the others, which are usuallynative apps.
Browser games have existed in various forms since the origins of the open internet in the 1990s. However, the 2000s were a "golden age" for the medium, and a great many were created withAdobe Flash during the period. The 2000s also saw the rise ofsocial network games such asFarmVille, and the web ecosystem of the time was a "creative vortex" of rapid iteration and development, which had a huge influence onindependent video games.[5] Ultimately, the decline of Flash as a format and the rise ofmobile gaming in the 2010s brought an end to the scene, though there have been more recent developments such as .io games.
Thefront end of 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,WebGL andWebGPU enable more sophisticated graphics. On the back end, numerousserver technologies can be used. Many websites such asNewgrounds acted as platforms for hosting browser games.
Flash games operated using the Flash Player plug-in. Support for this outside of China was shut down on December 31, 2020, and since then playing these games has required unofficial methods, such as third party plug-ins.[6][7][8] Thousands of Flash games have beenpreserved by theFlashpoint project.[9][10] The emulation plug-inRuffle aims to continue browser accessibility of Flash games.[11]
When the Internet first became widely available and initial web browsers with basicHTML support 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.[12] 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.[13]
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 users to runapplets made in theJava language and 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.[14][15]
Sites began to emerge in the late 1990s to collect these browser games and other works, such asSun Microsystems'HotJava.[16] These sites started to become a popular commodity as they drew web visitors.Microsoft acquired one such site, The Village, in 1996, and rebranded it as theInternet Gaming Zone, offering various card and board browser games.[17]ClassicGames.com was created in 1997 to host a selection of classic, Java-based onlinemultiplayer games such as chess and checkers; its popularity ledYahoo! to purchase the site in 1998 and rebranding it as Yahoo! Games.[17]
In 1999,Tom Fulp kickstarted the Flash games scene with the release of the gamePico's School on his siteNewgrounds that featured a "complexity of design and polish in presentation that was virtually unseen in amateur Flash game development" of the time.[18][19][20]
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 forWired said, "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".[21] InPico's School, based on theColumbine shootings, the player must take down agoth school shooter.[22] There are a few other controversies involving browser games and real-world events, such as the 2007Virginia Tech shooting reenactmentV-Tech Rampage,[23] andNRA CEOWayne LaPierre targeting the gameKindergarten Killers after the2012 Sandy Hook shootings.[24]
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.[25][26] New sites likeKongregate andArmor Games arose for hosting Flash-based games while also offering their own titles,[27] while companies likePopCap Games andKing launched their own portals featuring titles they had developed.Social media sites also drove more players to browser games.Facebook, after launching in 2004, added support for browser game functionality that integrated with itssocial network features, creatingsocial network games, notably withZynga'sFarmVille.[28] The success of browser games did hurt some developers.Humongous Entertainment reported that they lost players to Flash games in the early 2000s.[29]
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-A development, 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.[30] 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 Hominid andEdmund McMillen'sSuper Meat Boy based on hisMeat Boy browser game.[27] Other indie developers got their start in browser and Flash games, includingVlambeer,Bennett Foddy, andMaddy Thorson.[27]
Flash games peaked in popularity around the mid-2000s, and by the early 2010s the format was in decline. This was due to two main factors: the rise ofmobile gaming, which accelerated with the release of theiPhone in 2007, and Apple's 2010 announcement that the devices would not support Flash.[27] TheApp Store and itsin-app purchases were a new revenue model that emerged fairly quickly, and outpaced the ad-driven approach of the Flash era.Google used the same concepts for developing theAndroid storefrontPlay Store. Many 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.[31]
Steve Jobs'open letter to Adobe in 2010 stated that Apple would not support Flash on the iPhone platform due to security concerns and other factors. Critics pointed out that the move was made in order to promote Apple's own "walled garden" approach, and that Jobs personally "hated" Flash.[32][33] The move ultimately led to a long term deprecation of Flash, with Adobe announcing a move to the openHTML5 standard the following year, and developers abandoned the platform.[34]
Some browser games did continue to be made in other formats throughout the early 2010s, including HTML5,WebGL, andWebAssembly.[35] Adobe announced the discontinuation of the format in 2017,[36] and this took place in 2021. Projects such as theFlashpoint Archive exist for the preservation of these titles.
The development and adoption of the HTML5 standard was a rulechanger for browser game developers.[37]
The first experiments with new features, primarily the canvas element, allowed the developers to demonstrate, using the example of the early but popular and attractive gamesBrowserQuest andContre Jour, that the capabilities of HTML5 as a technology are sufficient for developing projects that provide the player with a first-class gaming experience.[37]
Since the introduction of HTML5 as a standard in 2008, the development games based on it has followed the path of mastering new emerging capabilities for rendering dynamic scenes - starting with thecanvas element, which allowed in combination withJavaScript rendering of dynamic scenes and originally included in HTML5 specification,[37] and also withWebGL (2011) andWebGPU (2021) technologies, both dramatically increasing developer capabilities.[38]
Agar.io was announced on4chan on 27 April, 2015 by Matheus Valadares,[39] a then 19-year-old Brazilian developer. In the game, players control one or more circular cells in a large map with many players, representing aPetri dish. The game went viral on the free online games siteMiniclip, and began a wave of new .io titles from around 2016- a new genre of large scale, arena based browser games, identifiable by their hosting at the.io domain.[40][41][42][43]
Following the shutdown of Flash,emulators have become a popular substitute to allow players to access old Flash games.Ruffle was released in January 2021 as an emulation-plug in to allow access to Flash games after its shutdown.[44] Aside from Ruffle, other emulators such as Supernova and Flashpoint Archive have become commonly used to access Flash games.[45]
Several game genres were either first developed as, or popularised by, browser titles. These include:
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