The last ten years have been witness to some amazing growth in the
gaming segment, mostly fueled by MMOGs. We have also experienced wild
growths in technology and a huge explosion in the amount of households
with broadband internet connections. These two advances have coupled to
allow developers a new way of delivering games to without the use of a
traditional client – via web browser. Browser-based MMOGs are
a rapidly expanding force in the gaming world and this week we
spotlight them with a Top Ten Browser-Based MMOGs list. Featuring
everything from divide-and-conquer strategy to traditional sword and
board fantasy, with lots of new concepts in between, we recap some of
our favorites from the genre.
10) Travian
While
target="_blank">
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doesn’t fit the traditional description of an MMOG, it is
massive and it can be very addicting.
style="font-style: italic;">Travian
is based on empire building and alliances, pitting players against each
other and the world in a race for power and resources. Set in ancient
times, players take the role of a village chief of one of three
playable factions – Romans, Teutons or Gauls. Each faction,
or tribe as they are called by
style="font-style: italic;">Travian,
has their own advantages and disadvantages as well as specific troop
types. Everything in
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is time-based, which gives the game a turn feel and helps pacing, yet
rewards players who can spend more time in front of the keyboard.
9) Faunasphere
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style="font-style: italic;">Faunasphere,
from Big Fish Games, is one of the more unique entries in the list this
year. The game puts you in the role of a caretaker of
sorts--a tender of small creatures, a fighter of pollution, a builder
of spheres and a breeder of your own community of Fauna. The game is
ultra casual and focuses on the social aspect of gaming, a trait made
evident by the fact that the community here is simply one of the best
I’ve ever seen.
style="font-style: italic;">Faunasphere
is one of those rare games that is greater than the sum of its parts,
none of which are extraordinary on their own. The game world is
constructed of 3D blocks with 2D avatars running around on them, but
the overall effect is one that belies the game’s simplicity
and makes it as fun as any other on this list. This game launched at
about the same time as
style="font-style: italic;">Champions Online
and Aion;
the only difference is that I still enjoy playing this one.
8) AdventureQuest Worlds
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An offshoot of the popular single-player game,
style="font-style: italic;">AdventureQuest,
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style="font-style: italic;">AdventureQuest Worlds
is a flash-based MMOG from Artix Entertainment. Both games are
browser-based and both take place in the world of Lore (a hidden
acronym for the games original title
style="font-style: italic;">Lands Of Rising Evil)
with AQO taking place a few years in the future from the AQ timeline.
The beauty of this game comes from its simplicity and the flash
programming which allows for quick load times and low processor demand,
meaning it should run on virtually any web capable machine.
One of the most popular aspects of the game is its widespread use of
in-game events. These events typically revolve around holidays and last
for about a week. One notable exception is the Friday the 13th event,
which happens anytime a Friday trips over a 13 on our calendar.
7) Neverland Online
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This
target="_blank">Chinese import
is one of the newer games on the list and is quickly gaining a North
American and European audience. The 2D game is flash-based and
incorporates lots of Chinese lore and fables in its storytelling.
Combat is turn-based and easy to master in any of the games four
classes – Warrior, Assassin, Mage or Priest. The graphics and
sound are very stylized and while your avatar looks fairly childlike
you need not worry about the gloved one returning from the dead to
haunt you here; it’s not that Neverland. The game is able to
retain a fairly intimate feel by its design and while the turn-based
combat and small world may not appeal to a lot of traditional MMOG
players, lore junkies will appreciate the fairly rich world they can
explore.
6) Lords Online
target="_blank">
style="font-style: italic;">Lords Online
is an interesting mix of MMOG, resourse sim and conquest game, with a
main menu and overall look oddly reminiscent of an old Sierra game I
adored called
style="font-style: italic;"> Lords of the Realm II.
Players take the role of lord of their city by way of a hero character
who can be one of three races – Human, Alec(Elf) or
Shaba(Orcs) and can ally or battle their neighbors for control of the
land. The game has a robust quest system, an item mall and a chat
window which are all easily accessible from the main menu. Players are
vulnerable to attack after their third day in the game so it pays to
get off to a fast start and make friends early.
[protip] Knock out all the intro quests – it’s a
tutorial system with rewards [/protip]
5) Heroes of Gaia
Another build-sim/MMOG hybrid ,
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target="_blank">Heroes of Gaia
is slightly more complex than Lords Online. Players chose from one of
four races and start with a castle to control and grow to a mighty
empire. Quests are named tasks here but serve the same
function, especially at lower levels where they teach you the common
functions and underpinnings of the game. The place where my pick for #5
really distances itself from its lower ranking counterpart is in the
fit and finish--
style="font-style: italic;">Heroes of Gaia is
a much more polished product with crisper graphics and an overall
cleaner look. All the features one would expect are present here, with
alliances, guilds, chat and an item mall. One other advantage to Gaia
is that of time; the game is older and recently launched its first
expansion which added some instanced combat as well as PvP upgrades to
the mix.
4) Dragon’s Call
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href="http://dc.gamedp.com/" target="_blank">Dragon’s
Call is one of the most
PvP-focused games on the list and while one of the graphically weakest
it has a unique combination of features that can leave you wondering
where the last couple hours vanished to – a hallmark of a
great game in my opinion.
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is a mash up of many popular gaming elements – a WoW-like
item system, a Final Fantasy style turn based combat system, and an EVE
Online-esque offline skill up system all wrapped into a package that is
reminiscent of old school BBS games like
style="font-style: italic;">Legend of the Red Dragon.
The real beauty of
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is how accessible it is from any machine, I suspect this would run just
as well on an internet capable 486 as it does on my screaming fast
gaming rig. (I may actually be speaking from experience here as I may
have accessed this on some dinosaurs at my other job, but I can neither
confirm nor deny that as I don’t wish to incriminate myself.)
I recently did a
href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tentonhammer.com%2Fnode%2F77857&ei=SA5MS8XvGZK6NuLr_fQM&usg=AFQjCNGx4o5FcolIYtDSz2YrMTw9fasGPw&sig2=zpsgWxwuBTne34Go6geXsQ"
target="_blank">full review of the game
and you can check that out here for a more in depth look, or simply try
it out for yourself. But make sure to set an alarm clock –
you’ll need it!
3) Fusion Fall
href="http://www.fusionfall.com/" target="_blank">FusionFall
is the first MMOG set in the
Cartoon Network universe. Featuring characters and cameos from nearly
all of the networks most popular franchises, this 3D browser game is
similar to Earth
Eternal and
style="font-style: italic;"> FreeRealms
in its use of a popup window style client that allows a higher data
stream to handle the more advanced graphics the game has to offer.
Perfect for kids of all ages, FusionFall allots two character slots per
account for the non-paying population and folks who wish to spend a few
dollars a month can double that number as well as add a few more perks
if they should desire. Blending equal parts fun, combat and
socialization
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is an excellent gateway for younger players to discover MMOGs and may
just be a guilty pleasure of the parents of the next generation of
hardcore raiders.
2) Earth Eternal
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is one of the better looking
games on the list and features a colorful 3D environment that begs to
be explored. Famous for its inhabitants, EE has been called
“The Furry MMO” in some reviews for its unique take
on races – the majority of which are anthropomorphic, or
animal-based. The game features four classes with no
advantage or disadvantages for race/class combos--races are purely
aesthetic here. The game does take slightly more setup than
the majority of the games on the list as it uses a proprietary
background program to handle the graphics and processes of the game,
however the extra effort is worth it as it allows for a more dynamic
experience than flash-based games can deliver. Combat,
movement and questing are all standard fare and anyone familiar with
any popular current client-based game will fall right in step with this
one.
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is a perfect game for slow days at the office; just remember to keep
the sound turned down to avoid icy stares from co-workers.
1) FreeRealms
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style="font-style: italic;">Free Realms Sets the Bar
for Browser-Based MMOGs
The only title from a AAA developer,
href="http://www.freerealms.com/" target="_blank">
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is definitely worthy of the top spot in this list. While SOE is a
constant target for naysayers and has been through some tough times
with many of its MMOG ventures of late,
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has been an unmitigated smash hit and has really shown how well a
browser game can be done.
style="font-style: italic;">FreeRealms
allows players to do almost anything imaginable in a gaming environment
from standard monster killing questing to race car and destruction
derby style mini games and everything in between. The emphasis in this
game is fun and it’s delivered in spades. The
success of the format has led to
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/73904" target="_blank">rumors
that another franchise, a hugely
successful IP, may be coming to the land of browser games. If that
happens it could do for the browser world what WoW did for traditional
client-side games.
As MMOGs take over the gaming world and the internet takes over
virtually every other aspect of our lives, browser-based games are
poised to be the perfect delivery vehicle of the Next Big Thing as they
blend our insatiable desire for entertainment with our need for
socialization into a tight knit package that keeps pace with our A.D.D.
society.
Did your favorite browser MMOG make the list? Have one that you think
is worthy? Let us know in our forums and as always, have fun gaming.
