Patrick Hearn · May 31, 2024 · 5 min read When you just can’t stand to look at that project for another minute and you need a break, where do you turn? What do you do when you’ve got downtime at work and nothing to devote your time to? The answer is simple – browser games.
There are thousands of games on the Internet that run entirely in the browser, but not all of them are fun to play. In fact, some of them are downright awful – but never fear. We’ve listed some of the best titles to kill a few minutes of time or give you a welcome distraction when you need a mental break.
Cookie Clicker
Cookie Clicker is a simple game with an incredibly addictive formula. The goal is to make as many cookies as you possibly can. Making your first cookie is as simple as clicking on it. Then again and again.
Once you click fifteen times, you can spend your cookies on a “cursor” – a power up that automatically clicks for you every ten seconds. A hundred cookies lets you hire a grandma to bake them for you, which will produce one cookie per second.
The game continues in this vein, letting you invest in more powerful production facilities and upgrading your individual cookie-makers output.
Best of all, it runs in the background. You can leave Cookie Clicker going in a separate tab and check in on it throughout the day. You can even save the game and continue later. Achievements and the crazy upgrade tree will keep you playing for hours on end.
Abobo’s Big Adventure
If you miss the days of classic, 8-bit adventure games, Abobo’s Big Adventure is for you. It’s a simple beat-em-up with a classic chip tunes soundtrack and simple mechanics.
You use the A and S keys to punch and kick, and the directional keys to navigate the screen. Enemies come at you and you beat them down until their HP bar (which shows at the bottom right corner of the screen after you hit someone) drops to zero.
The game is full of classic references. You fight Goombas, the Black and White Spies, and even Donkey Kong. It’s a full game with added content once you beat the main story. It’s a great homage to the classic beat-em-ups of yesteryear.
Line Rider
Line Rider is one of those classic games that most people have at least heard of, even if they’ve never played before. The entire premise of the game is simple: you build a track for a man on a sled to ride.
Line Rider is based entirely in physics, so steeper slopes equal more speed, while shallow slopes and uphill sections can be used for speed control. You build the track and then hit the Play button at the bottom to see how your sled-rider does.
If the track doesn’t work out just right, you can stop the game and erase sections and make modifications. Don’t be afraid to try out jumps and loop-de-loops, but make sure you have enough speed to complete them! The last thing you want is for your character to crash and burn.
Note: this game is best played with a mouse, as drawing proper lines with a touchpad is not an enjoyable experience.
Threes
Threes is a puzzle game that takes a lot of inspiration from the much-loved 2048. The game is easy to play, but incredibly difficult to master.
You start with a random assortment of tiles that you move using the arrow keys. The trick is in the combination of those tiles. A “1” tile will only combine with a “2” tile to make a “3.” Any tile with “3” or higher only combines with a twin.
That means you need to press “3” tiles together to make “6,” and then press two “6” tiles together to make “12.” With only 16 empty spots on the board, this can get difficult quickly. You can see the upcoming tile, so there is an element of strategy involved.
Threes is a great way to challenge yourself and exercise the brain – and even more useful when you need to work out a problem on a current project, but want something to distract you while your subconscious draws conclusions.
Agar.io
Agario is a PVP game that only uses your mouse. You start out as a small circle and must traverse the screen, eating circles smaller than yourself and growing in size.
Other players are doing the same thing. If a player larger in size collides with you, they’ll eat you and it’s game over. On the other hand, if you can grow to a large enough size without being consumed by another player, you’ll have a massive advantage. The larger the circles you consume, the larger you’ll grow.
It’s a fun and deceptively difficult game. The only danger with Agario is that you can set custom user names, so you might run across NSFW content if you’re playing on a school or work computer.
