Browser game



A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser. Browser games can be created and run using standard web technologies or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer. Browser games are also portable and can be played on multiple different devices or web browsers.

Browser games come in many genres and themes that appeal to both core players and casual players. For example, Zynga's Farmville is a popular Facebook farming browser game that uses the Facebook interface for easy point-and-click interaction with game mechanics that are easy to understand for all players. Games like Farmville are also social, and social hooks are provided to interact with other users on Facebook, as well as report achievements to one's Facebook Wall. Other titles like Evony and Aeria's Caesary and Lords Online are relatively complex and deal with many factors associated with RTS games and may require more involvement and time commitment from players. These kinds of games also include a competitive player-versus-player or pvp element and social network building in the form of leagues, guilds, etc.

Characteristics
Browser games are often free-to-play and do not require client software to be installed apart from a web browser. Multiplayer browser games have an additional focus on social interaction, often on a massive scale. Due to the accessibility of browser games, they are often played in more frequent, shorter sessions compared to traditional computer games.

Since browser games run isolated from hardware in a web browser, they can run on many different operating systems without having to be ported to each platform.

Technologies
Browser games can take advantage of different technologies in order to function.

HTML
Standard web technologies such as the Document Object Model, CSS, and JavaScript can be used to make browser games. These technologies, collectively termed dynamic HTML, allow for games that can be run in all standards-compliant browsers. In addition, dedicated graphics technologies such as SVG and the Canvas API allow for the fast rendering of vector and raster graphics respectively.

Future technologies such as WebGL will also allow for accelerated 3D support in the browser without the use of a plug-in. There's also a possibility to use no additional plugins and no future technologies to implement 3D software using just javascript and existing box model rendering engines (with limited functionality).

Browser plug-in
Browser plug-ins provide additional capabilities to web browsers and can provide support for features that are not yet provided by standard web technologies. For example, plug-ins provide accelerated 3D computer graphics using O3D or physics and audio processing using Unity.

Server-side
Server-side scripting languages such as PHP, Perl or Python can be used to create browser games.