Browser games – ones that you can play directly on your web browser – are incredibly popular, with an estimated 1 billion users by 2024. There is a wide array of titles to choose from, and their easy-access style means that they can connect people from all over the world. But how do they work, exactly, and what software is used to build them?
This article will look at the impact, popularity, and evolution of browser games. In addition, it also examines the software that helps power the increasingly sophisticated models and what the future may hold.
Whenever, wherever
Browser games such as Slither.io, Pokémon TGC Online, and Wordle are played by millions of people around the globe, while a series of popular online card games and casino-style platforms also run through browsers. Unlike other games, there is usually no purchase fee for browser games and they are easy to access from any device, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Many are relatively cheap to make but also have the potential to generate significant revenue for their creators through advertising and in-game purchases. In some cases, they are also available as apps or console or PC games.
The secret ingredient
Though there are exceptions, most browser games are built using HTML. HTML5, the latest version of HTML, usually operates with three unique codes: JavaScript, which helps to achieve the given objective, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which displays a specific page in the preferred manner, and HTML itself, which works as the basic framework.
So, what is HTML5 capable of when it comes to games? Essentially, almost anything. HTML5’s almost universal availability and exceptional versatility make it the perfect platform for browser games. While it’s unlikely that browser games will be able to match the power of the Xbox and PlayStation anytime soon, HTML5 can be used to run everything from sophisticated strategy games to word and number games and interactive narrative games.
Wide range of applications
As browser games are so easy to access, HTML5 is the perfect platform for multiplayer games such as Agar, Catan Universe, Forge of Empires and Uno with Friends. For the same reason, many casino and gambling websites are also run using the browser format. The hugely popular world of online poker, for example, is typically available in your browser through sites such as Resorts Casino. HTML5 is able to run huge numbers of single games and tournaments, complicated poker table positions, card dealing, and much else besides.
So, what about the future? Though there are certain to be other technologies that develop in this arena, there is no question that, for now, HTML is here to stay, and the same can be said for browser games. We might also expect to see an ever-increasing merging of the worlds of browser and app games, as development times fall ever further, and it becomes easier to create a game that works seamlessly across all platforms. After all, the more effortless it is for the developer to build the game and the user to start playing, the better it is for everyone.
